Remembering
by LimitedByCreativity
Summary: Set after 4x13. "Jack's eyes met hers and he said anxiously 'Do you know who I am'. The familiar redhead shook her head, 'No.'" The companions on Earth find Donna, and, mistaking her state for an accident, try to make her remember. Donna/Jack, 10/Rose.
1. Chapter 1

_Yet ANOTHER story by me, bugger-lugs! -.-" I have so many unfinished stories, it actually hurts, but I HAD to write this down! :) I know its an odd pairing, but I've grown fond of it. :D Bare in mind I do NOT watch "Torchwood". I have picked up what I know from a reliable-and-slightly-obsessed (kidding!) friend._

_Anyways, I wrote this because I HATED the way Donna left! :( :( And, I didn't like the Rose-abandonment, but mostly, I wanted Donna back. lol :P_

_There will be a couple of mysteries that need solving in this, but mostly, it's about the Donna-thing._

_Enjoy._

**Title:** Remembering

**Summary:** Set after 4x13. "Jack's eyes met hers and he said anxiously 'Do you know who I am?'. The familiar redhead shook her head, 'No.'" The companions on Earth find Donna, and, mistaking her state for an accident, try to make her remember. Donna/Jack, some 10/Rose.

* * *

**Remembering **

Chapter 1

The Doctor leant against the Tardis console, his brown eyes sad. Yet another companion gone, except unlike the others there was no way she was going to return.

He gave a long suffering sigh, running a hand through his hair. He had to admit it…he was _definitely _going to miss Donna. Sure, sometimes she annoyed him with her consistent jabbering, fairly regular slaps and pokes at his _'Alien-ness'_, but in the end she was a good friend. A _best _friend, he could say, if he were a child or a woman.

He sighed again, and was about to begin moving the Tardis from its rather obvious position on a street corner, when suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light, and he was thrown backwards. He groaned as his head clunked against the metal grating, and looked up hazily into the light. His eyes widened.

"No." the Doctor whispered.

"_It can't be_…" he said in a quiet, shocked voice, before he passed out.

* * *

2 Months Later 

"He still isn't picking up!" Martha cried hopelessly, flopping into the seat beside Jack. He growled under his breath and said, "Where could he be?"

Martha Jones and Mickey Smith had joined the Torchwood team shortly after the events on the Dalek Crucible, and for the last month or so, they had desperately been seeking the Doctor. The computers had detected a unfamiliar - albeit faint - signal, that no one could decipher, and thought the help of the Doctor and the Tardis would help solve it.

"He isn't picking up my mobile…" Martha mumbled, "And I can't think of any other way to contact him!"

Gwen, who was pacing the room, suddenly clicked her fingers, "How about Donna?"  
Jack blinked, "Donna?"  
Martha's face lit up, "Yes! She gave me her mobile number soon after I met her, after the Sontarans."  
She began typing in another number and pressed _'Speakerphone'_. They waited as the phone rang, until a familiar voice came through, _"Hello?"_

"Donna!" Martha exclaimed happily, "Hi! It's me, Martha,"  
There was a moment of silence, before _"Who?" _

Martha's face fell, "Martha Jones. I'm a friend of the Doctor's."

More silence.

Martha looked at Jack, eyes wide, and mouthed 'She doesn't know who I am!'.

Then, Donna said something that made the whole team jump.

_"Who's the Doctor?"_

Martha's mouth was agape, her eyes wide.

_Who's the Doctor?_

How could she ask that?? What was wrong?!

_"Oh, hold on…"_ her voice said, _"I've got another call…"_

And she was gone.

The whole team sat in a shocked silence.

"Something's wrong," Ianto said in a tiny voice.

Jack nodded, "I think we'd better get to London."

* * *

Donna Noble awoke with a yawn, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she sat up.

_Thank God for Saturdays!_, she thought, lying back. 11AM, and she didn't have to worry about getting to work!

She sighed happily and swung her feet out of bed, thinking.

She had got a really_ weird _call on her mobile the day before, from someone called Martha Jones, who seemed to know her…

Donna chewed her bottom lip, before brushing her worries aside. Probably nothing, anyway.

With another yawn, she climbed up and headed downstairs, where her mum and granddad were already sitting eating breakfast.

"Morning," she said chirpily, pouring herself a coffee.

"Morning, sunshine," Wilf beamed. Sylvia was too engrossed in her newspaper to look up, but she gave a grunt in greeting.  
Donna rolled her eyes and sat on a seat around the kitchen table, sipping coffee. Suddenly, her head felt really heavy and she groaned, resting her head in her hands. She had been getting these terrible headaches almost daily for the last month or so. They made her feel horrible and groggy, and every time she took aspirin it just made her head worse and she needed to throw up.

"You alright, love?" Wilf asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah…I just think I'm getting another migraine," Donna mumbled into her palms.

"_Another _one?" Sylvia cried, finally emerging from her newspaper, "Oh, Donna, you've been getting them so often lately!"  
Donna was about to reply when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She groaned, hissing slightly in pain.

"Are you okay?" Sylvia asked. Donna nodded, putting a hand on her chest, and grumbling, "Yeeeeeeeeeah…"  
Sylvia looked worried, "Is your chest still bothering you? I said, you should go to a hospital!"

Donna shook her head. She hated having a big fuss made over her health, and she hated going to the hospital. Luckily, she was saved by someone knocking at the door. She got up immediately with a cry of "I'll get it!" and she ran to the door, swinging it open.

Her brow immediately furrowed in surprise and confusion. On her doorstep stood three unfamiliar people. One was a young black woman with brown hair tied back and brown eyes. One was a young black man with a closely shaved head and brown eyes and the last…

Was probably one of the _fittest _men Donna had ever seen!

Suddenly, she was very aware that she was in her pyjamas.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Donna Noble!" the fit man suddenly exclaimed, "Good to see you again!"

Donna's face must've betrayed a look of surprise, as his face fell.

"How do you know my name?" she asked slowly.

"It's _me_." the man cried, "Jack!"

Her face remained blank.

"Captain Jack Harkness?" he prompted, "_'Outer Space Facebook'_? We put 27 planets back in the sky together?"

Donna's brow furrowed even more, and she stepped back as if to close the door, "Sorry, you must have the wrong house. Well, I'm busy so--"  
"Wait!" this mysterious 'Jack' said, stepping forward so she couldn't close the door.

Jack's eyes met hers and he said anxiously "Do you know who I am?"

The familiar redhead shook her head, "No."

* * *

"How could she not remember any of it?" Martha whispered. The trio sat in a café, all with hot cups of coffee and were pondering what on Earth had happened to Donna.

"Something must've happened," Jack said thoughtfully. He had given Donna his card if she ever needed it - _which must've left the poor woman even __more__ confused_, he realised - and the three had left and settled in this little shop.

"Maybe it was an accident!" Mickey cried, "You know how dangerous it is with the Doctor. Some alien could've kidnapped the Doctor and brainwashed her,"

Martha grinned, "Yes! That is probably it! Mickey, you genius!"  
Mickey went understandably red and mumbled something into his coffee. Jack sighed.

"If only the Doctor would magically appear," he said grumpily.

* * *

_2 Months Before_

The Doctor lay unconscious on the floor of the Tardis. The person kneeled beside him, a sad smile on his face.

"We're back," he said absent-mindedly, "And I'm going to leave you here with him."  
"What about you?!" his companion exclaimed, "You're not well,"  
The first person smiled, "I might as well go and live out the remainder of my days back home,"  
The second person nodded sadly, kissing his head, and, in another blinding flash, the first man was gone. The second smiled and kneeled beside the Doctor, placing a hand on his cool cheek.

"I'm here," she whispered, a smile on her face.

"I'm back, and I'm never leaving you," Rose Tyler whispered, before placing a kiss on his forehead.

* * *

_Like I said, 10/Rose :) I wouldn't lie!_

_BUT_

_Mostly, this is going to be about Donna with the Torchwood team. Obviously, they don't know remembering will kill her. Sorry if my naïve-ness about "Torchwood" is apparent. XD _

_This wasn't my best chapter...hmmmm...sorry :( But I actually began this at like 5.30 and since then have had loads of interuptions, like my dad coming home, my dad going to help my grandad with something, my dog peeing on the carpet, dinner etc. etc., you get my drift. :)_

_I think I'll at least finish 1 of my other stories before getting on with this, but if I get 5+ reviews, I'll update quick as possible!  
So…review!_

_Beth xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

**Remembering**

Chapter 2

The Doctor stared at her eyes wide, and she smiled, shifting uncomfortably under his strong gaze.  
She looked the same; her hair was longer, and tied back, and she was wearing a white shirt and jeans, with a black leather jacket. Although her face still looked the same, her big brown eyes showed wisdom she must've earnt over the time they'd had apart. But she was still his; still _his _Rose.

"Rose," he whispered, unable to believe it. She nodded.

"Yes, it's _me_," she beamed, "I'm back,"

"How?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

She sighed, "The other you. He fixed the canon so I could come back,"

"Why?"

The Doctor almost didn't ask when he saw the look of despair on Rose's face. She sighed and whispered.

"It's been two years for me since you left me – _us_ – on Bad Wolf Bay," she told him, "The other you, he got a job with me at Torchwood, and we got married,"

The Doctor's face fell slightly, "Married?"

She nodded, smiling slightly, "Yeah. Mr and Mrs. John Noble,"

The Doctor grinned, "John Noble?"

Rose nodded, "Yeah…he thought since he was half _you _and half _Donna_, y'know?"

The Doctor nodded for her to continue and she sighed, "I did grow to love him, Doctor; he wasn't _you _but he was like you! Except for the Donna bits, but they made him all the more interesting,"

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Anyway…" Rose sighed, and bit her wobbling lip, "After a while, he started getting ill. He got headaches, very bad headaches, and aspirin just made him_ worse_."

Rose gave a tearful sigh, tears glittering in her eyes, "H-he couldn't survive, Doctor. With a human body, and a Time-Lord mind. Without his Tardis…he was lonely, Doctor, even with my big, loud family…the hospital said he was dying of heart failure. He spent the last couple of m-months…"

Rose suddenly let way to sobs, as she gasped out, "Helping _me _get back to another man!"

The Doctor nodded in understanding, wrapping his arms around the sobbing blonde. She cried into his jacket, before giving his chest a mighty wallop.

"_Didn't you know_?" she sobbed, hitting him again, "Didn't you _know _you couldn't do a Time Lord-Human metacrisis? _Didn't you_??"  
He shook his head, "No. I only knew you couldn't do a Human-Time Lord metacrisis,"

Rose's wet eyes met his, and she shook her head slightly, "B-but…Donna…she—"

The Doctor nodded sadly, "She couldn't handle a Time Lord mind and…and I had to wipe her memories."  
The Doctor continued, ignoring Rose's startled cry, "She would've burned up if I hadn't. I couldn't let her die, Rose, I—"

Rose silenced him by wrapping her arms tightly around him, leaning her head against his chest.

"I know," she whispered, "I get it; I understand. You did what you had to for her, and _he _did what he had to for _me_,"

The Doctor nodded again and wrapped his arms around her with a sigh.

"What about your family?" he asked gently, "Jackie, Pete, baby Tony…?"  
Rose smiled into his chest, "I made a decision a long time ago, Doctor; I'm never gonna leave you,"

The Doctor smiled as well and kissed her head, "Rose Tyler. Are you back for good?"  
Rose nodded, "The canon only had enough energy for two trips. It brought us here, and took him back,"

"Was he a good husband?" the Doctor asked, "Was he good to you?"  
Rose looked up at him and nodded, "Yeah. He was brilliant,"

She then gave her Doctor a big grin, "Just like you,"

He smiled and then Rose was kissing him, arms wrapped tightly around him.

"Oh, Rose Tyler," he breathed after she pulled away, "I've missed you,"

She beamed and slipped her hand easily into his, and it fitted perfectly…just like old times.

* * *

Donna lay on her stomach, on her bed, flipping the card over and over in her hand.

**CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS**, it read on it, along with a mobile number and fax number.

_Why did he recognize me?_ she thought, using the handsome 'Captain' as a distraction from her chest pains – which had _not _gone away 'within the week' like her grandpa had promised.

_Outer Space Facebook_, Donna thought, running the words through her mind. She did get a sort of niggling right at the back of her brain, like something she couldn't remember. Instantly, her head felt heavy and she decided thinking was just too laborious for today.

She sighed and rolled off her bed, pulling her phone out of her pocket and texting Nerys – her on/off best friend – as she walked down the stairs.

She paused to finish the text just outside the kitchen door, when she heard her mum and granddad talking in hushed tones – about _her_.

She tucked her phone away and leant against the wall, listening.

"Maybe it's what happened that is giving her the pains!"

"But, Sylvia, he said Donna wouldn't be affected by it!"

"Of _course _she'd be affected, Dad!" her mum said venomously, "She can't even—"

Donna didn't hear the next bit as her mum lowered her voice. She was about to see if she could creep nearer when her phone beeped loudly, signalling Nerys had texted back. With a sigh, she pulled her phone out and walked nonchalantly into the kitchen.

"Hello," she said, smiling into her family's uncomfortable faces, "What're you two talking about?"  
Sylvia and Wilfred looked at each other, before shrugging and mumbling answers. Donna's eyes narrowed.

"Some secret?" she pressured, "Thought I heard my name."

Both shook their heads, and Wilf leapt up with a grin.

"Well, I'm going up the hill," he beamed, "See ya,"  
Then he was gone, only stopping to grab a thermos. Donna scowled and looked down at her mum, who was once again engrossed in her newspaper.

"What're you up to today then?" Sylvia asked. Donna shook her head and didn't answer, grabbing a slice of toast off her mum's plate and walking out of the room, ignoring Sylvia's cries of protest.

Donna walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa, staring absently at the news, which was still rabbiting on about 27 plants in the sky, blah blah blah…

"_Astrologists are still trying to understand what caused the planet to shift across the galaxy_," the newsreader was saying, "_and what invaded Earth shortly after the moving; creatures that called themselves 'Daleks'_…"

_Daleks_, Donna thought.

Suddenly, a picture of what looked like a giant pepper-pot on wheels flashed in her mind, and a dull ache pounded around her brain, and chest. Donna let out a tiny gasp and clutched her head, one hand on her heart, before the picture vanished along with the ache. Donna shook her head, breathing heavily, and changed channels.

_Hopefully the Teletubbies won't give me a headache_, she thought, glaring at the four colourful figures bouncing around the screen, along with the baby-sun in the sky. She sighed and put her head in her hands.

The Earth had _moved_.

Everyone was saying it, and some people had even photographed the amazing new planets in the sky.

All the proof was there, so it HAD happened…yet, if the Earth had shifted, how had she _slept _through it, like her family said.

Donna raised her head slowly as realization hit; she had no memory at all of the past couple of months. Something must have happened; _why couldn't she remember??_

Donna suddenly felt terrified; something had happened to her and no-one was telling her what.

Then, she thought of the Captain, and his friends. They knew her; they must've known her in the months she'd forgotten.

She looked at her phone, smiling when she noticed she had subconsciously typed in his number already.

* * *

Jack Harkness sat at his desk, listening to the faint signal again. Still made no sense; it was too far away.

The team had other problems, bigger than listening to a faraway signal.

…

For starter's, the coffee machine was broken.

Jack chuckled. There was nothing else to see to.

Except for the mysterious matter of Donna losing all memory of the Doctor.

As if on cue, Gwen and Martha walked in. Gwen held out his phone.

"You left this in there," she said, gesturing towards the main hub. Currently, his phone was ringing shrilly, displaying **UNKNOWN NUMBER **on the screen. Jack took it and pressed the green button.

"Hello, Captain Jack Harkness," he said.

"_Jack? It's Donna Noble."_

Jack leapt up so suddenly he knocked his cup of water over, spilling it over the desk, "Donna!"

Martha and Gwen both looked up.

"W-what can I do for you?" Jack asked, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder as he tried to clear up the water.

"_Well, you said you knew me, and I don't know you…what's going on, Jack? Why can't I remember the past couple of months?"_

Jack smiled, throwing wet tissues into the bin, "We'll be willing to help you, Donna, if you'll come up here,"

"…_where are you?"_

"Cardiff!" Jack beamed.

There was a moments pause, before…

"_Cardiff__?"_

Jack smiled at the woman's tone, "Tell ya what; I'll send a friend to come pick you up,"

"_Okay then,"_

Jack hung up, and pointed suddenly at Gwen.

"Gwen Cooper!" he cried loudly.

Gwen jumped, "What? What?!"

Jack grinned, "I need you to go down to Chiswick,"

Gwen wrinkled her nose and said in the exact voice Donna had used.

"_Chiswick_?"

* * *

Donna sat in her living room, biting at the skin on her thumb. She had got a text from Jack saying someone called Gwen would be there soon, so she'd packed a little bag, and was waiting.

"What's this then?"

Donna almost jumped out of her skin when her mum came in, and saw Donna's bag.

"Er…I'm going out with some friends,"

"What friends?" Sylvia asked.

Donna wriggled uncomfortably, before muttering, "_Welsh_ friends. I'm going up to Cardiff to see them,"

Sylvia's eyes widened, "_Cardiff_?"

"What's this about Cardiff?" Wilf asked, poking his head around the door.

"Donna's going to see friends all the way in _Cardiff_!" Sylvia said, drawing out the last word. She and Wilf's eyes met. Both of them were worried about letting Donna out of their sight, in case something happened and she remembered.

"How old am I?!" Donna asked, rolling her eyes, "I think I can go on a trip to Wales without getting lost, thanks! I'll be back!"

Sylvia was about to argue when there was a knock on the door. Wilf went to the door and opened it, to reveal a smiling brunette woman.

"Hello," she said, in a thick Welsh accent, "Is Donna here?"

"Yeah," Wilf said gruffly, "Are you the friend she's going to Cardiff with?"  
The girl nodded, "Yes, that's me. Gwen Cooper,"  
She stuck her hand out, meaning for him to shake it. He did, a moment later.

"Wilfred Mott," he told her, "Donna's granddad,"

Donna appeared beside Wilf, smiling at Gwen, "Hi. Well, gramps, I'll be off,"

Donna was about to step out the door, but suddenly Wilf engulfed her in a bone crushing hug.

"You be careful, love," he whispered, squeezing his granddaughter tightly. Donna and Gwen's eyes met, exchanging identical looks of confusion.

"Er…I will, gramps," she mumbled, prising him off of her, "See ya,"

She slipped out the door, heading for a black car outside the house. Wilf watched as the two climbed in.

"You must be Gwen," Donna said.

"And you must be Donna," Gwen smiled, shaking her hand, before turning on the car and driving off, heading back to Cardiff.

* * *

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own Doctor Who. Or the Teletubbies. :( Life sucks…_

_Hope you enjoyed this! I know a lot of you were miffed that Rose had left 10.5, but I hope that's a good reason for it lol. XD Random question, would you rather marry 10 or 10.5? Personally, I'd pick 10.5 because a) he's hot b) he's HUMAN and c) That little bit of Donna would make him all the more interesting! _

_Anyways, please review!! I got amazing feedback last time! :D _

_P.S. Random questions for "Torchwood" fans: Are Jack and Ianto TOGETHER (wink wink)? DO they have a coffee machine, or do they make it with, like, kettles and stuff? If I got this wrong, I'm sorry, I'm not a "Torchwood" watcher. Thanks! :)_

_P.P.S. I will try to update my other stories soon, I promise! :D _


	3. Author's Note

**_HOWDY, MY LOYAL, AMAZING READERS!!_**

XD

**Anyways**, this is not a BAD _Author's note_.

_Though that's probably what you're used to with me lol :D_

But…

I officially know _exactly_what I am going to do with ALL my unfinished stories.

These are _The World Changes…_(HSM), _Our Love Story _(Hairspray), _Human Nature _(DW), _Johanna _(ST), _Humuwaki Island _(HSM), and_ Remembering _(DW).

I have all my plans written in a big blue swirly notebook. :)

**So, now I know **_**what's going on**_**, hopefully you can expect more FREQUENT UPDATES.**

**Yay. :)**

**Just one thing…**

_I'd like more reviews on my older story like TWCAR and OLS. I only one or two for the last chapter of OLS. _(

_**So…yeah :)**_

**OH.**

_And, I've changed my penname again. :P_

_I am now **B o r n - To - A c t.**_

_Cool, no?_

_I hopefully will update one of my stories soon.._

**B o r n - To - A c t **_(Beth)_

xxx


	4. Chapter 3

**Remembering**

Chapter 3

Unsurprisingly, it was raining by the time Gwen and Donna arrived in Cardiff. The redhead rolled her eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh.

The whole trip had been silent, except for the first twenty minutes when the two women had exchanged feeble facts about their lives, ranging from boyfriends to their jobs. Other than that, Donna had been left to her own thoughts.

Gwen parked at the side of a road in the centre of Cardiff, getting out and leading Donna towards a large fountain in the centre. Donna faltered as Gwen stepped further towards it.

"Erm…why are we climbin' on fountains?" she asked, wrinkling her nose and leaning her head to the side, as if a different angle would make it all clearer. Gwen smiled slightly.

"Something definitely has happened to you," she said sadly, "_This _would seem the least weird thing ever; given what you've seen,"

With that, she stepped on a certain stone square and disappeared.

Donna's mouth fell open.

"Wh…_what_?"

She began walking all the way around the fountain, looking everywhere for Gwen. After completing her first lap, she was about to start again when she passed _that _square again, and a hand appeared from nowhere and pulled her on with it.

"Gwen??" Donna squeaked, looking at the Welsh woman, who was barely containing her giggles.

"It's an Invisible Elevator." she laughed.

"Invis--? _Impossible_!" Donna spat, wrenching her arm away from Gwen. She barely noticed the lift had begun to move until it stopped, and she was in a completely different world.

"Welcome to the Torchwood main hub," Gwen beamed, gesturing around. Donna stared, mouth agape.

"Wow…"

"Well look what the wind blew in!"

Donna spun around to see the ever-handsome Jack Harkness leaning on a desk watching her amusedly.

"Shut up, Jack," Gwen smiled, stepping off the lift, followed by a bemused Donna.

"Donna Noble!" Jack laughed, "How are you?"

Donna blinked at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, before saying in an abnormally high voice, "Invisible elevator? _Really_?"

Jack nodded, taking Donna's bag from her limp hand, "Yep. Welcome to Torchwood!"

Donna nodded slowly, as if absorbing it all, before she began exploring.

"How did it go?" Jack asked Gwen quietly, watching warily as Donna began looking at all the Torchwood equipment.

"Alright, I suppose. Her grandfather seemed very reluctant to let her go," Gwen whispered back.

"Maybe he knows something," Jack suggested.

"Um…"

The two jumped as Ianto and Martha appeared beside them, as if from nowhere.

"I think we should focus on making Donna remember and finding the Doctor, instead of calling up some old man and asking his knowledge on a two-hearted alien," Ianto said, grinning.

"You talkin' about Gramps?" Donna's voice suddenly injected. Jack looked over his shoulder to see she was standing behind him, inspecting a gun she'd found on his desk.

"Is this _real_??" she asked. He hurriedly grabbed it off her and stuck it in his belt, smiling.

"No, we weren't talking about your 'Gramps'." he lied, "And, _yes_, of course it's real! Anyway, shall we begin?"

Donna's eyes narrowed, "Begin what?"

Jack led the four people to a blue room, that had a long table set with chairs in, and various screens at one end. He sat Donna at the end of the table - where _he _usually sat, but he was willing to give just once… - and the rest of the team (including Mickey, who had now joined them) sat in the other chairs.

"Donna…" Jack began, leaning back and looking at the redhead, "What do you remember about the last year or so of your life?"

Donna blinked, her brow furrowing as she thought back.

"…not much," she finally concluded, "It's sorta hazy…"

Jack nodded, "Have you ever heard of someone called the Doctor?"

Donna shook her head.

"It doesn't ring a bell?"

"Nope."

"How about Tardis?"

"Uh-uh."

"Rose Tyler?"

"Who?"

"Daleks?"

Donna paused a moment, her brow furrowing even more, before shaking her head, "Nothing about them; except for what they're going on about on the news,"

Jack sighed, looking at his team-mates, "Someone - or _something _- obviously did a thorough job of wiping her memories,"

"So…you think someone kidnapped her and the Doctor, wiped her mind, and plonked her back on Earth?" Gwen asked.

"Anything's possible around the Doctor," Mickey chuckled.

Suddenly, the Torchwood team became away of a loud tapping. They looked up towards Donna, to see the redhead had decided to remind them of her presence by drumming her fingers on the table, her head resting in her other hand and giving the team a bored look.

"Done?" she asked irritably, still drumming her fingers. Jack blinked at her a moment, mouth slightly ajar, before grinning and sitting up straighter.

"Yeah! So, Donna, I think we should run a brain scan on you to see if your head shows any weird signs of--"

"Captain?" Donna cut him off, leaning forward on her forearms, "Mind if I pick your brain?"

Jack blinked, exchanging surprised glances with the rest of the team.

"Um…sure?"

Donna smiled slightly, tilting her head towards him, "Who are you?"

Jack's eyebrows shot up, as the rest of the team members all exchanged tiny smiles. They had asked the American this question many times themselves, with no result.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said with a big grin.

"I know." Donna said, "But _who _are you?"

Jack leant forward, looking straight into Donna's eyes, "You tell me, Donna Noble; when you think about me…what comes up?"

"I hope you're not expecting a huge ego boost like _'I think...unbelieveably sexy'_." Donna retorted, grinning.

Jack grinned back, chuckling, "Of course not. C'mon, when you think of me, what do you see?"

Donna didn't break eye contact, but Jack could see her mind wandering, thinking. She nibbled her lower lip like she was confused, before saying, "World War Two,"

The rest of the team began to laugh slightly, before seeing Jack's eyes had widened, his face paler.

"World War Two?" he repeated.

Donna nodded, "Chula warship? Does _that _mean anything?"

"Chula?" Martha repeated, seeing a flicker or recognition in Jack's eyes.

Jack had a tiny smile on his face, and he shook his head disbelievingly, "Where are you getting this?"

Donna was frowning, her eyes on the tabletop. She could see…dancing on top of an invisible ship by Big Ben, a sonic blaster - _what was a sonic blaster?? _- and something about…

"…the 51st century," she whispered hoarsely, out loud. Suddenly, she felt a pounding pain in her head and chest, and she hissed sharply in pain, reeling away from Jack and putting two hands on her forehead.

"Donna??" Jack asked, suddenly panicked. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "You alright?"

Donna bit her knuckle to keep herself from whimpering in pain. Where were these images _coming _from?

Her eyes were closed tightly. As the pictures of those things slipped from her mind, so did the pain.

"Yeeeeeeah," Donna mumbled, "Just…headache, is all."

"How often have you been getting headaches?" Martha asked. She had half-risen from her seat when Donna had shown signs of agony, but was now slowly lowering again.

"A lot," Donna said vaguely, "For the last two months. Not as frequent as the chest pains though,"

"Chest pains?" Mickey repeated. Donna nodded.

"Two months. The exact time since the Daleks invaded," Gwen murmured. Donna saw a vague flash of the pepper-pots in her head but shook it away.

"Have you seen a doctor?" Jack asked, still looking worried. Donna snorted.

"No. I hate doctors. All cold hands and pills," she said, not seeing Martha's annoyed look.

Jack looked up and met Gwen's gaze.

* * *

"Nothin'!" Jack cried, holding one of the scans of Donna's brain up to the light, "Absolutely _nada_!"

Martha shook her head, studying a x-ray herself, "Nothing peculiar seemed to have happened; she just…_can't remember_!"

Ianto sighed, "But is it worth it? Should we spend hours devoting ourselves to making her remember?"

"Yes!" Martha exclaimed, rounding on poor Ianto, "Because she is my _friend_! And believe me, Ianto, she was different with the Doctor! I want her to be able to know how amazing she is; it's not fair some damn alien should just take her memories away for _fun_!"

Gwen nodded in agreement, "But…she may never remember, Martha. And what happens if she does? She goes swanning off with the Doctor,"

"He doesn't even know she's here," Martha whispered, "He could be _dying _- or already _dead_ - for all we know, and Donna's our only hope of knowing what we can do to help him,"

Gwen and Ianto looked at each other, before looking up at Jack.

"I think we should help her," Jack said suddenly, "It's important; I know what it's like to not remember a part of your life,"

The other 3 exchanged surprised looks.

"You do?"

"Yes. And I'd rather not talk about it,"

Ianto sucked in a breath, angry that Jack wouldn't share with them; his _friends_.

"Decided, then," he said quietly, before looking up at Jack, "You'll be in charge of helping Donna remember."

Jack's eyebrow arched, "_I will_?"

"You feel so strongly about it," Ianto continued bitterly. Jack nodded a moment later.

"Fine. I will,"

Ianto and Martha both smiled slightly, before turning and climbing onto the invisible elevator. Gwen looked up at him.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"What did Donna mean when she said…_Chula warship_? The 51st century?"

Jack stiffened visibly, before relaxing against the wall, "Nothing, Gwen. Just…nothing,"

Gwen tried to convince him to share again, but he remained clamped up, so she just sighed and bid him goodbye, before joining Ianto and Martha. Jack breathed in deeply as the elevator rose up, taking his friends away, before tiptoeing towards his office, peeking in to where Donna was fast asleep on his bed. She was holding the covers quite tightly, pulled right up to her chin. She was curled in a ball, breathing deeply. Jack smiled.

"What happened to you, Donna Noble?" he said into the empty room, before turning and heading back into the hub.

If he had stayed, he would've heard Donna whisper gleefully in her sleep,

"I'm wavin' at _fat_?!"

* * *

_lol. __:)_

_I'm sorry for the delay on a proper chapter, but I hope you enjoyed this! XD _

_I must say, I am quite depressed, as when me and my sister went to eat dinner, guess what __**"Doctor Who"**__ episode was on? YOU GOT IT: __**"Journey's End"**__. And, of course, Wilf did the whole __**"I'll look up to the sky, on **__**her**__** behalf…"**__ bit, that effin' gets me everytime. :( Of course, it was ruined by my brother insisting the Doctor was a sexual outcast. -.-" Retard. _

_Anyway, please review! I love to hear what cha think. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I DID, Rose would be happy with the REAL Doctor, Donna and Jack would get together, and 10.5 would be MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINEEE!!_

**REVIEW!!  
**

_Eye lovez yhoo lotz :3 _

_**Next Time **(cos I love you XD)**...**_

_"Does this remind you of anything?"_

_"Noooooo,"_

_Jack scowled and looked at the picture he had drawn of a Dalek. _

_"Are you sure?"_

_"YES." Donna snapped, irritated, "And, besides, that looks like a four-year-old drew it."_

_Jack rolled his eyes, "It does not, and I wish you would **stop insulting my drawings**!"_

_Donna glared at him, leaning forward in her chair, "Don't tell me what to do, Captain Moron. You're not the one who has to sit here havin' drawing shoved in your face cos apparently you've forgotten some 2-hearted alien who claims to be a doctor!" _

_"He doesn't **claim** to be a doctor! He is **the **Doctor!" Jack cried._

_"Yeah, whatever," Donna grumbled, examining her nails. Jack growled angrily._

_"You know, Donna Noble," he hissed, leaning forward, "You are probably one of the most **insufferable **people I have ever met!"_

_Donna looked up at him, her face straight._

_"Well, it's good the feelings neautral," she spat coolly, before getting up and storming away. Jack leant back and groaned into his hands._

_How were they meant to find the Doctor using a woman as annoying as Donna Noble??_

* * *


	5. Chapter 4

_Surprised to see me so soon? ;D It's official! This story is my new baby! The rest are just…the older kids who get a bit noisy and randy lol. XD__ Tbh, I really should be updating my HSM story…_

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 4

"Wakey-wakey, Ms. Noble!"

Donna groaned and pulled the covers over her head, only to have them yanked off again.

"Oi!" she cried, sitting up. Jack stood at the foot at the bed, grinning as he rolled her duvet into a ball.

"It's time to get started," he told her with a smile.

Donna sighed laboriously, "What on?"

"Getting you to remember," Jack told her, putting her cover down and pulling her up.

"Can I get dressed first?"

Jack looked down at her in her over-sized pyjamas and shrugged, "Oh, if you must,"

"And I must," Donna smiled back, pushing him out of the room.

* * *

By the time the rest of the team had arrived, Jack was sitting on the sofa, drawing things on pieces of paper.

"Jack…" Martha said, peering over his shoulder, "_What _is _that_?!"

Jack looked down, "It's the Tardis,"

Martha and Gwen both bit back laugh. He had drawn a 2-D rectangle, with a line going down on the front of it and a small window on either side, and the words _"POLICE BOX" _was scrawled on the top, with a tiny square for the light adjoined to the top.

"Jack…" Gwen sing-songed, "Do you have the mental capacity of a five-year-old?"

Jack frowned and looked back at his drawing, but didn't get enough time to retort as Donna came out of his office, dressed and with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Alright," she said with a smile, flopping down beside him, "Let's hear this story,"

Jack turned to her, grinning as Martha and Gwen went about their work, "Right, so I think I should start with who the Doctor is."

Donna nodded, turning to Jack.

"So, the Doctor looks like an ordinary man, yeah? Human face, body, human clothes, _great _hair…"

"I think I get it," Donna smiled.

"Okay. _But_, he isn't human. He's a Time Lord – a very special species from a whole different plant," Jack said, deciding not to throw in it's name just yet, "And, he has two hearts,"

Donna's eyebrows shot up at this but she didn't comment.

Jack continued to tell her about the Doctor – about the adventures he has, the Tardis, the whole of time and space at his fingertips. He then went on to talk about regeneration, and his companions. He told her about Rose Tyler, Martha's history with him; he even told her a little about his adventures with him, explaining why he had been so surprised when she'd mentioned a Chula Warship. Donna had nodded along, not interjecting at all. She had looked interestedly at the picture of Rose Jack had, and the drawing of a Tardis. Jack even pulled out a Converse trainer when he'd told her about the Doctor's current outfits.

"And, then, this is where you come in," Jack said finally, "Rose, Martha and I all travelled with the Doctor – his _companions_, if you will. And, at one point, so did you,"

Donna smiled, "No I didn't. I think if I was taken to different planets and times, I'd remember,"

"But, Donna, that's it!" Jack cried, "Someone seems to have…_wiped _your mind, or something. We know you were there; we fought the Daleks with you."

Donna laughed, patting his shoulder, "Do you seriously believe all this?"

Jack's smile fell, "_What_?"

"Well…_aliens_. Things from other planets coming to Earth; it's _barmy_!" Donna cried, "And, of all people, I wouldn't have been around 'em."

"But you _were_."

"I would remember!" Donna insisted.

"Your mind was wiped."

"Where's the proof?"

Jack faltered, blinking at her a moment.

Ah.

She had him there.

He chuckled, slightly uncomfortably, "You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"

Donna stared back at him, her brow furrowing.

_An ancient - maybe Roman? - city, with street venders and market stalls selling pottery and the like..._

"_If I said **'veni, vidi, vici'** to that lot, what would it sound like?"_

"_I'm not sure -- you have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"_

Donna looked away, shaking her head.

"You alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Donna mumbled uncertainly, before shaking her head again and looking up at him, smiling enthusiastically, "Yeah, I'm absolutely fine,"

Jack smiled back, "Right. Now, we try to trip your memory."

* * *

"Does this remind you of anything?"

"Noooooo,"

Jack scowled and looked at the picture he had drawn of a Dalek.

"Are you sure?"

"YES." Donna snapped, irritated, "And, besides, that looks like a four-year-old drew it."

Jack rolled his eyes, "It does not, and I wish you would _stop insulting my drawings_!"

Donna glared at him, leaning forward in her chair, "Don't tell me what to do, Captain Moron. You're not the one who has to sit here havin' drawing shoved in your face cos apparently you've forgotten some 2-hearted alien who claims to be a doctor!"

"He doesn't _claim_ to be a doctor! He is _the _Doctor!" Jack cried.

"Yeah, whatever," Donna grumbled, examining her nails. Jack growled angrily.

"You know, Donna Noble," he hissed, leaning forward, "You are probably one of the most _insufferable _people I have ever met!"

Donna looked up at him, her face straight.

"Well, it's good the feelings neutral," she spat coolly, before getting up and storming away. Jack leant back and groaned into his hands.

How were they meant to find the Doctor using a woman as annoying as Donna Noble??

He got up, stretching. Granted, they _had _been at this for 3 hours, and nothing had worked. He had shown her more pictures of Rose, found pictures of Tardis-look-alikes online, used a picture Martha had of the Doctor…_nothing_. Either this alien had well and truly wiped her mind, or Donna wasn't trying hard enough. He was leaning more towards the latter right now.

* * *

Donna sat on the Captain's bed, her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. God, that man was annoying! Shoving a variety of pictures in her face, telling her stupid stories about this Doctor, talking especially about someone called Davros – _"DAVROS!!" _he had bellowed when she'd called him _"David" _for the eighth time.

The annoying thing was, every time he said something completely random, like _"Volcano day" _or _"Dalek Crucible"_ she got an annoying niggling in the back of her mind, or an image flashing in her head, but every time they would ease away or she'd feel her head pound so she'd ignore it. And once it'd slipped away, she completely forgot what it was.

She sighed, putting her head on her knees. Something had happened to her – something she couldn't even _remember _– and it really scared the life out of her.

* * *

Jack was making himself a cup of coffee when Ianto came in, giving Jack a slightly surprised (or was it annoyed?) look.

"So, the coffee machine's working again?" he noted.

"Yeah," Jack said in a slightly irritable voice, "Just fixed it."

Ianto nodded, "Shouldn't you be with Donna?"

Jack laughed humorlessly, turning towards Ianto, "Don't mention _her_."

Ianto sighed, "What's she done?"

"Well, she's just…so…_irritating_!" Jack cried, "She obviously doesn't believe in this alien stuff – _despite _seeing the pterodactyl flying! – and she won't even _try _to remember!! She's being so uncooperative!"

Ianto tilted his head to the side, "Well…can you blame her?"

Jack raised an eyebrow, "You're siding with…with _her_??"

Ianto shook his head, "I'm not siding with anyone! But…think about it, Jack. She thought she was just living an ordinary life until some random guy came in and told her otherwise! Wouldn't you be scared?"

Jack stared at Ianto, absent-mindedly stirring his coffee. _Scared_… it's not a word Jack had thought of. It never occurred to him that Donna could just be terrified to think something traumatic had happened to her.

"Maybe," he said finally, "Maybe she is just that,"

Ianto nodded, "Yes."

* * *

Gwen and Martha sat in the main hub, bent over Martha's phone.

"That is the _tenth _time _today _I've called him!!" Martha snapped, giving her mobile a violent shake, "Why won't the Doctor pick up??"

Gwen sighed, "Something must've happened,"

Martha nodded, "What we need is Donna remembering, so she can tell us!"

Gwen looked to the radio sitting on the table beside them, "Especially since…"

It crackled to life, giving a distant but definitely louder signal. They still couldn't hear words but…

"…it's definitely closer," Gwen breathed.

* * *

"I'm sorry!" the Doctor laughed as he walked into the Tardis, followed by a drenched Rose Tyler.

"You could've, um…_checked _before you went swinging over a deep, _cold _lagoon of _water_ on a vine-rope with me hanging off ya, that it _was_, in fact, strong enough for _TWO _people!!" Rose snapped, shoving him.

The Doctor laughed again, absentmindedly flicking a strand of Rose's soaking blonde hair.

"Go get dry then," he smiled. She nodded in agreement and walked out of the console room. The Doctor began getting them into the vortex, chuckling to himself.

He was so happy, having Rose back. He knew she really could be with him forever (well, _her _forever) now, and he didn't have to worry about being lonely.

He was so happy, he didn't notice Martha's mobile phone fall off the console and onto the floor, slipping under the console itself, its ringing drowned out by the groan of the Tardis.

* * *

_Uh-oh!! :O _

_Again, sorry for "Torchwood" naive-ness. Do they have a pterodactyl? Does it have a name? Hmm? ANSWERR!!_

_Any-who-how, hope you enjoyed! Please review, my lovies!! _

_No "Next Time", sorry. Um, can't think of one. _

_I don't know what to do NEXT chapter, but I have plans for the chapter…after… :)  
REVIEW!!_

Disclaimer:_ I don't own this TV show. If I did…life would be good. XD And I wouldn't be spending it on Fanfiction!! _


	6. Chapter 5

**Remembering**

Chapter 5

Donna liked spinney chairs.

Always had; always will.

She guessed it had come from working in offices all her life, even going with her mum to the office on "Bring Your Kids To Work" days. And all the big exec types had had spinney chairs, and always smiled at her and let her have a ride. Not that her mother ever approved, but stuff her.

Donna had had plenty of "relationships" with these type of executives, and whenever she was waiting in their office for them, she always sat in the high-backed, black chair that sat behind the mahogany desks. She _tried _to look self-confident and business-like, of course, but it was so easy to make the chair turn on that she found herself doing it almost sub-consciously.

Yes, Donna _did _like these chairs.

Which was _probably _the reason she sat on Captain Jack's, at three o'clock in the morning, twirling it around.

Though, if anyone asked, it was because she couldn't sleep.

She had been at this Torchwood place for three or four days now, and nothing had happened. Except for the chest and head pains she got whenever Jack was trying to make her remember, but she never told anyone. She was worried this would encourage them to run tests, or take her to a hospital, and she hated hospitals. She just had this feeling in the back of her mind that the hospital's couldn't help with whatever she was going through.

To make matters worse, she was seriously resenting the pretty, pretty Captain now.

He always became agitated and annoyed when they tried this whole "Doctor-Tardis-Aliens" thing, and he wound up snapping that she was insufferable, or words to that effect. He always had this _look _in his eyes like he thought she was stupid, just an ordinary temp from Chiswick. He _had _called her stupid today…so she had slapped him.

_God_!

Couldn't that man _see _that she was terrified?

He knew her; he obviously knew her, he knew so much about her! Which only added to the evidence that this "Doctor" existed.

She looked around Jack's office; the evidence was all around her really, with this incredible hub and all the alien stuff.

So something had happened to her…something _really _bad, and for all she knew, some aliens were chasing her around the Solar System, looking on every planet for her!

And she was absolutely scared stiff.

Her life could be in danger every time she stepped out of the house, or talked to a friend. Every minute she got closer to remembering what happened.

The Torchwood team were only trying to help find the Doctor. And she was pushing them away; putting on a "I-don't-believe-this-and-I-couldn't-care-less" attitude. Shouting at the world cos no-one was listening.

She smirked at these words. They seemed familiar to her somehow, like she had heard them before. She felt a dull ache at the back of her mind, but had learnt that even the smallest pain could lead to the horrible pains she had become used to, so she pushed it away.

Donna thought back over the couple of months, to the day the Daleks invaded. She couldn't remember the invasion; there was nothing. Her mum had said she'd felt ill and had gone to bed with painkillers and sleeping tablets, and she had been completely out-of-it. Donna thought harder and found she couldn't remember any of that day, not even taking these pills.

In fact, she couldn't seem to remember _any _of the past two years. It was all blurry and fuzzed and it hurt so much to _try _and look…

Thankful for the spacious seat of the chair, she stopped her mindless spinning and pulled her knees up to her chest, leaning her chin on them and closing her eyes, trying to block out the pain and focus on _remembering_…

She couldn't see anything, and the pain was becoming too much to bare; her head felt like it was on fire. She leant back and opened her eyes, forcing herself to focus on something else, like her grandfather's hip operation or her mum's nagging. Or maybe the pretty Captain…

After a moment, the pain died away, and her head felt much cooler. She sighed, smiling.

Now, all that was left was the undying fear.

It suddenly seemed to swallow her whole as the truth of it all came to her. The fact she had no idea about two years of her life; even her family seemed oblivious!

Donna squeezed her eyes shut, allowing some tears to fall down her cheeks and she leant her forehead on her knees and sobbed.

Yes, Donna Noble loved spinney chairs.

Or…

She _did_, until the night Captain Jack Harkness walked in on her crying in his.

* * *

Jack hated nighttimes.

The hub was dark, he was all alone and he could never sleep, knowing his dreams would be haunted by memories of his ridiculously long life.

Seriously, Jack sometimes wished he could just _die_. He'd finally get the rest he'd been longing for if he did.

And, being alone wasn't _exactly _true…or it hadn't been for the last four days, what with Donna occupying his rarely used bed.

Donna.

Jack sighed, sitting up slightly straighter on the sofa in the tourist information centre that doubled as entrance to the hub.

Sometimes, the Doctor really confused Jack. For instance, _how _could that man survive with Donna Noble on board for so long??

_Easy_, a little voice that sounded extremely like Ianto Jones said, _She was different with the Doctor. She's changed now._

Jack ignored the voice, and the niggling memory of Ianto telling him how scared Donna must be.

True, Donna had reverted to an "In-Yer-Face" attitude after losing her memories, but Jack didn't know how she acted around the Doctor! He had only met her – well, old her – once and…well, she _had _seemed nicer then.

Jack sighed, as he remembered today's "lesson". It had resulted in Donna asking him if he thought she was stupid, him foolishly saying "Yeah, kinda!" and Jack being slapped for what felt like the two millionth time in his life. He had to admit, she was _very _feisty, usually the kinda woman Jack was attracted too – hence, being slapped so much.

Jack had made an effort to act more understanding – he'd also had his memories lost once! – but she must've found this patronizing, which was probably why she thought he thought she was stupid.

He didn't think she was stupid. He _knew _she was clever and brilliant! He had seen her at the height of her brilliance.

Donna Noble was the most important woman in the universe.

But now, she had gone back to that woman who had a low self-esteem and took it out on others. And all because some bastard had taken away her memories.

Jack was starting to feel guilty now, for being so rude to her earlier, and decided to make it up to her.

In the morning.

Bored of staring at the blandness of the fake Tourist Information Office, he decided to go back into the main hub, attempting to be as quiet as possible. Once in, he began to mooch aimlessly about, wondering once or twice if he should go talk to Donna while they were alone (although he HATED late-night talks, as someone wound up falling asleep halfway through), or if he should go out and enjoy late-night Cardiff.

Then, he heard a sound from his office and smiled, deciding he should do the first option.

He walked over to the office door and walked in silently.

He nearly tripped over when he saw Donna in his chair, staring wide-eyed at him, with tears running down her pallid face.

When Jack Harkness walked in on Donna Noble crying, he decided maybe it really _was _time for a much-hated late-night talk.

* * *

_I rather liked that chapter if I'm honest! XD_

_Not much action, but yeah… :)_

_Thanks for the "Torchwood" info! XD _

_We've been in London for a couple of days to see this play – "Under the Blue Sky" – that had Catherine Tate in. It was brilliant actually – well, it was about the private lives of 6 teachers. And it just so happened CT played a very promiscuous (sex-driven) Maths Teacher called Michelle…and it just so happens my **mother **is a teacher…called Michele…and she loves Maths. DX DO TEACHERS REALLY ACT LIKE THAT??_

_Lol_

_But, yeah…not a play for the younger audience, I'll tell ya that! XD Good, but whatever..._

_BUT ZOMG. We were sitting NEXT TO the actors who played Donna's granddad (Bernard Cribbins) and mum (??) in DW!!(and their respective partners ¬.¬)!! ME AND MY SISTER WERE SQUEEING TIL THE NEXT MORNING! XD XD XD _

_Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!_

_Beth xxx_


	7. Chapter 6

**Remembering**

Chapter 6

_Previously:_

_He nearly tripped over when he saw Donna in his chair, staring wide-eyed at him, with tears running down her pallid face._

_When Jack Harkness walked in on Donna Noble crying, he decided maybe it really was time for a much-hated late-night talk._

* * *

The silence weighed down on Jack like water, as if he was stuck at the bottom of the ocean – _Never doing __that__ again_, he reminded himself – and he stood uncomfortably, knowing his eyes were still wide and stuck on Donna.

She hadn't moved since he'd entered, doing nothing to hide the tears that still dripped down her miserable face, her blue eyes fixated on his. Jack swallowed thickly, pushing away his shock as he stepped forward.

"Donna --?" he began. This seemed to push the redhead into action; she leapt off his chair and stood, back to him, as she scrubbed angrily at her face, wiping off her tears.

"Er…morning, Cap'n! Or should I say '_night_', what time is it? Uh-_huh_, 3am! Well, we're both missing out on our beauty sleep, so maybe we should…_yeah_,"

She drew out the word through her teeth, and turned to face him, a grin spread over her face, "Nighty-night."

She sat down on his bed and sniffed slightly. She looked up and frowned when she saw Jack still standing there.

"Something bothering you --?" she started to say, only for Jack to sit beside her on the bed, uncomfortably close, and demand, "What's wrong, Donna?"

Donna's now-scary smile didn't falter. "Nothing," she assured him, "Why would anything be?"

He gave her a knowing look, "Donna. I have lived a long time. I have been with a _hell _of a lot of women, and I know when something is _subtlety_ wrong. Meaning, I _definitely _know something is wrong when I walk in on a woman crying. So, please, share?"

Donna's eyes narrowed, the smile falling away as quickly as it came.

She didn't know what to say to him. He wasn't particularly the nicest to her, he yanked her away from her nice, _normal_, oh-so-human life and expected her to believe all this alien hoo-hah and he wanted her help to find some man called _'the Doctor'_. She wasn't particularly fond of him herself; they were like chalk and cheese.

And yet…

Something in the very back of her mind told her he _was _a good man. He may come off as a con, a liar, a downright git, but he had a heart of gold, and he only wanted to help.

_You've only known him for a couple of days_, her voice of reason was saying.

_Who cares, he's hot!_, said the tiny part of her that still fancied him, and for some reason sounded a lot like Nerys, _Say something 'cause you're sitting staring at him like a bloody fish!_

Donna snapped back to the present to see Jack staring concernedly at her.

"Please, Jack," she said quietly, fidgeting, "I-I'm fine, _really_."

Jack tilted his head, smiling slightly, "_Really_?"

Donna blinked for a moment, before suddenly exploding, leaping to her feet, "Are you _mad_? Of course I'm not flipping fine! Why the hell would I be?!"

Jack's eyes widened at her sudden anger, and he could only watch as she ranted.

"You just waltz right into my life, and mess it all up, with these stories of aliens and other planets and two-hearted men in flying blue boxes that are bigger on the inside! You just come on in and tell me you've met me in the past, but I have absolutely _no idea _who you are, _'Captain' _Jack Harkness! Yet you know me so well! And the idea that something out _there_ –" she gestured wildly upward, "—has taken my memories, and half my _life_ away scares the hell out of me! And you_ never ask_! You're too concerned about finding your precious Doctor, and you and 'Torchwood' don't care who you stamp on to get to your goal, do you? _Do you_?! You just want what you want, and you don't seem to see that I am absolutely friggin' _terrified_! There is something out there that has got my memories, and may very well be after me and that just scares me to death!"

Donna finally stopped raving, her face flushed pink as she caught her breath, blinking away tears that had built up in her eyes. Jack sat in a stunned silence, blown over by the force of Donna's words. If he was honest, he was a _little _hurt that Donna thought they didn't care – of course they cared; they knew very well what she was doing for them and were grateful!

He finally got his mouth to obey his mind and speak, and said, "Donna, you _know _that isn't true!"

She looked at him, her eyes narrowed, "What?"

He stood up, moving to stand in front of her, his arms folded to match hers, "I _do _appreciate what you're doing. I know you _think _you were just living an ordinary life, but believe you me, Donna; I have seen some pretty brilliant things in my life and you are right up near the top of the list,"

Donna's frown deepened, although Jack saw a glimmer of appreciation in her eyes at this; maybe she hadn't had many compliments in her life (or the bits she could remember). Jack fought back a grin, trying to keep a serious face as he continued.

"And I know this is scary – I mean, it's _huge_! But, you've got to know you can tell me when something's wrong. We're not doing this _just _to find the Doctor. The last time I met you, you were fantastic, brilliant, amazing, and you saved the _whole _of reality; and I don't see why you shouldn't know what you did and I want you to remember. I know what it's like not to have your memories…"

Donna's eyebrows shot up, and she fidgeted with curiosity, but let Jack continue.

"And I know the desperation you must feel – not knowing what you did, if you were incredible, or not-so-incredible. Not knowing if you did something awesome, or terrible. Not knowing if you were life-changing, or just a lazy idle human…I get that, Donna!"

She blinked at him for a moment, before swallowing thickly and whispering in a tiny voice, "I'm so scared, Jack…"

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms tightly around the trembling redhead, rubbing her back comfortingly as she clung to him fiercely. He didn't say anything – they both knew he didn't have to say any more.

After a few minutes, Jack pulled away and smiled down at her, wiping a few stray tears off her face.

"I think you should get some rest now," he told her gently, "We have a _long _day tomorrow,"

"Technically, it _is _tomorrow," Donna pointed out, giggling as she rubbed off the remaining tear tracks. She then looked him in the eye and said emotionally, "Thank you, Jack,"

He smiled down at her, "You know I'm gonna look after you, yeah?"

She nodded, smiling.

Jack's grin, if possible, grew a little and, without really thinking, he leant down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Goodnight, Donna."

Donna blinked, slightly surprised, but couldn't force the smile off her face. As Jack reluctantly let her go and left the office, Donna climbed back into bed, still smiling and suddenly exhausted. She was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Her dreams that night were similar to the ones she'd been having for days now. Dreams of weddings, huge red spiders, little fat marshmallows floating above London and huge volcanoes erupting; the screams of the dying filling her ears…

This one was no different. There were strange creatures with long tentacles in their mouths, a tall man in a trench coat with a pained expression on his face, a heartbreakingly tragic song…

Then, the dream flipped forward and Jack was there, looking down at her with that huge smile that made Donna's heart and stomach overturn excitedly.

For one moment, Donna Noble knew she was _brilliant_.

Then, her eyes opened and she was back in Jack's office, the demonic alarm on the side beeping manically.

Damn. _Always _at the good parts…

* * *

_I LIKE IT._

_Probably only because my sister wrote the ending for me, due to severe head-banging, wall-punching, crotch-kicking writer's block. :(_

_Lmao_

_Anyway, apologies for the long wait – moving to Sweden and stuff takes time xD. And, we've been Internet-less for a while -commits suicide- but I'm BACK. Most of my time has been spent watching S1 and 2 of "Torchwood", and the first, like, 7 episodes of "Doctor Who" S4 and even S2, so I'm very much so "Doctor Who"-eed out._

_Anyway, NOW the Donna/Jack-ee-ness can __REALLY__ start._

_WAHOO._

_Please review to keep me sane. :)_

_Short summary for next chapter…:_

**Next Time:** Jack goes to desperate measures to make Donna remember, leading to an unfortunate collision with one of my sister's disciples, the Weevil Janet.

_Y'know, after studying "Torchwood" S1&2, I still haven't figured out WHERE you discover __Myfanwy's name._

_Huh._

_Am I missing something??_

_FOR THE RECORD, "Exit Wounds" – 4__th__ most depressing thing in my liiiifffeee!  
4) "Exit Wounds" 3) The day I told my friends I was leaving England 2) "Journey's End" 1) The day I left England and my friends._

_Anyway, YEAH, review. xD_

_And you've heard about my sister's name change, yes?_


	8. Chapter 7

_Okies, a kazillion apologies for lack of updates! DON'T HIT MEEE! Dx _

_Y'know, what sucks is I can't even use my "I-just-moved-countries" tactic. Damn. _

_In my DEFENSE, I did start typing this (and did like 3 pages) a few days ago, then my dad tried to "fix" my laptop, in the process completely screwing it up, ergo losing my work. ¬¬. So I was like "NOOOOOOO!!" cos he also deleted these avatars I saved that I loved. _

_So yeah. Blame my father!! xD _

_And I should __**not**__ have watched the YouTube video "David Tennant: I'm Too Sexy" while writing this. Phwoarrrr. __**–ded–**_

Disclaimer: I own…nothing. The Bee Bee Sea owns all. Wellll, least _I _can't be blamed for "JE". xD

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 7

By coincidence, Gwen Cooper-Williams and Ianto Jones arrived at the tourist office at the exact same time, literally colliding with each other as they both headed for the door at different angles. They laughed and hugged each other quickly in greeting, before Ianto, being the gentleman he is, held the door open and let her enter first with a murmur of "Ladies first,", a grin on his cherub-like face.

The two were walked down the hallway towards the main hub together, talking about their previous evenings – Gwen was on a high because Rhys had treated her to a romantic meal, and Ianto was annoyed cos Jack had not asked him stay an extra hour or two (as per usual), in favour of helping Donna some more – when they heard it.

Random music, coming from the main hub.

Gwen automatically sped up, wondering what on earth was happening, forcing Ianto to practically jog to keep up.

By the time they reached the cog door, the sound of Ian Dury and the Blockhead's hit, _Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick_ could be easily heard, confusing the poor co-workers even more. Whatever could have possessed Jack to start playing songs from the '70s?!

The cog door opened, the alarms that blared along with it not even enough to drown the music. Ianto and Gwen both stopped in the doorway, staring.

_**Hit me with your rhythm stick**_

_**Hit me! Hit me!**_

_**Das ist gud! C'est fantastique! **_

_**Hit me, hit me, hit me! **_

_**Hit me with your rhythm stick,**_

_**It's good to be a lunatic…**_

Donna sat on Mickey's desk, laughing at their Captain, their _leader_, who was currently dancing around the Hub in some rather good variations of '70s dancing.

"Something funny, Noble?" Jack asked in fake-annoyance, though his eyes were dancing with happiness as he came to a stop beside her, jumping up on the desk beside her.

"You!" Donna giggled, fighting to stop her laughing.

"Glad I can amuse,"

Donna looked seriously at him, "So, why is _this _song going to help me, hmm?"

"Well," Jack began, "As I have told you, several months ago, we all – including you, of course – were on board the Dalek ship…"

"Crucible." Donna added, smiling at Jack's bemused expression.

"Is that the memories, or me telling you?"

Donna hesitated, before shrugging half-heartedly, gesturing for Jack to continue.

"Okay. Anyway, as we were piloting the Tardis back to Earth, I harmlessly asked Rose about the parallel universe, if music and such was any different there. She responded by telling me that _Iona Dreary _and the _Wooden_heads had just released a hit song called 'Don't Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick', and that fact that everything – even the song – was so different depressed her, because this song always reminded her of the Doctor," Jack finished. Donna frowned.

"And that's got…_what _to do with my memory?"

"Well, you travelled with the same Doctor. Same song might remind you of him," Jack grinned, clearly chuffed with his idea. Donna beamed back and chuckled, "Okay, Captain,"

Jack, sensing that she didn't think his idea as he did, pouted playfully and jumped off the desk, spinning with a flourish and taking her hand.

"C'mon. Dance with me,"

"What--?"

Donna barely had time to reply before he'd tugged at her hand, pulling her off the desk and into his arms, spinning her round as she laughed, her head on his shoulder.

"Just cos I like to dance," he grumbled, turning his head so that it was practically in her hair, "I'm not _that _funny! Or cheesy, corny, whatever you want to use. Your hair smells nice by the way,"

Donna turned her head to look at him, though it left barely any space between their faces.

She hesitated, obviously closer to him then intended. She couldn't help but notice his eyes were _not _on her eyes, but on her lips, and she felt his hands tighten at her waist.

"T-thanks," she stammered, her breath warm on his face.

Suddenly, the song cut off.

"Morning," Ianto said loudly, stereo remote in hand and smiling tightly as Jack and Donna detangled themselves and stepped apart. Donna was slowly turning as red as her hair, but Jack grinned like nothing had happened.

"Morning, you two! Nothing like an early start, eh?" he laughed, hands in pockets. Ianto nodded in agreement, while Gwen hesitated by the door; she had been all ready to leave the moment Jack and Donna had embraced like that, but Ianto clearly had other ideas. She stepped forward grudgingly, also blushing.

"Well, let's get to work!" Jack exclaimed, with a grin at the two red-faced women and a clap of the hands.

* * *

_The air was toxic._

_Every breath she took scratched her throat and her eyes burnt. _

_The man – that strange, _dazzling _man – was handing her a key, a key to someplace she knew automatically she'd be safe. _

_The dream shifted._

_And then…she was somewhere new._

_Little people barely taller than her waist patrolled around, and she had to knock one out with a mallet. _

_She heard a voice through the phone pressed to her ear, "You are brilliant, you are!" _

"_Shut up," came her tense reply. Not a time for compliments…_

_The dream shifted again. To someplace completely different._

_She was back in the safe place – but this time she didn't feel so safe._

_The main part – console, maybe? – was on fire, and flames were everywhere, attempting to grab her, and she was sweltering as she fell to the ground, coughing. _

_And something was glowing. A jar before her, liquid bubbling around the detached limb inside. It was shining golden, and she suddenly felt a wave of calm wash through her as her hand moved forward._

_Another shift. And then, the whole universe was inside her head. And it was on fire. _

_Her whole skin, whole body, burned. And what was most painful was that she knew what was happening to her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it._

_Then she felt two cool hands either side of her head, and her temperature was fading, almost as quickly as all her memories…_

_Then, everything went dark. And the fire was back. _

_Flames licking her insides, her throat dry and scratchy._

_Her head was pounding…_

_Her chest hurt…_

_The burning…_

Donna sat bolt upright, coughing. The coughing made her raw throat scratch painfully and she could feel tears in her eyes, but at least the burning had stopped. She felt someone supporting her, a cool hand pushing her sweaty hair from her face.

For one moment, she thought it was the same cool hand that had taken her memories away.

Then she opened her watery eyes and, blinking against the harsh light, she found herself looking into concerned blue eyes, not the big brown eyes she was expecting.

She closed her eyes again and groaned slightly; she felt a little better and she could feel that dream slipping away as she got a firmer grip on reality.

"Jack?" she asked hesitantly, groping around until she found his hand, "What…what happened?"

Even she was surprised at her hoarse voice.

"You fell asleep on the couch," Jack told her, his voice low and soothing, "You were talking in your sleep – little things, didn't really get it, but then…"

He paused before saying in a strained tone, "You just went _really _quiet."

Donna opened her eyes again, taking in her surroundings. She was in the medical bay, on the bed in the centre. Martha stood beside her, wielding a stethoscope and a clipboard, while Mickey and Gwen stood on the upper level, looking down concernedly.

"O-oh…" Donna stammered, sitting up a bit more.

"Your temperature skyrocketed," Martha told her, looking at her clipboard, "No cause, it just went up and up. Your heart rate was going over twice the speed it should've been. It could've given in at any moment yet...it just kept on going,"

She looked up at Donna now, studying her intently, "Are you feeling better, now?"

Donna nodded slowly.

"Did you have any strange dreams?" Martha asked, "Maybe you were remembering subconsciously, and whatever drug was used on you automatically triggered this response to stop you…"

Donna nodded again, "I-I did have a weird dream…but…it's slipping away, now,"

Martha sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Don't you remember anything?"

Donna closed her eyes, scrunching up her forehead in concentration.

Jack and Martha waited with bated breath until she opened her eyes again, looking confusedly at Jack.

"I only remember…_him_."

"Who's him?" Jack asked. Donna couldn't help the fond smile that came to her face.

"Just…the most amazing guy in the world. He showed me the universe," Donna mumbled. Jack's grin lit up his whole face.

"You remember him?" Martha asked, looking at her heart monitor, "And while you remembered him, your heart rate picked up considerably,"

Donna peered around the younger woman to have a look, but it was returning to what was normal now.

"Okay, this is getting strange," Jack said, his hand still clenched in Donna's, "I say we--"

"Captain!" came a Welsh voice. Everyone looked up to see Ianto coming in from the main hub.

"Yes, Ianto?" Jack asked.

"We have a problem. Weevil sightings, in the town centre,"

"Weevils?" Donna repeated.

"Aliens," Ianto informed her.

"In the middle of _Cardiff_?!"

Jack chuckled at Donna's response, as a slow grin spread across his face, "Yeah. Wanna come meet one?"

Martha and Gwen gave Jack identical horrified looks as Donna frowned, "_Meet _one?"

"Yeah. C'mon; let's head down to the cells, real quick."

* * *

Donna stood, facing the glass door, aware of Jack standing behind her.

"Nothing looks particularly alien here," she said, arching an eyebrow. She felt Jack's hands touch her elbows as he leaned forward, whispering in her ear, "Just a moment."

One hand left her arm and flicked a switch beside him.

The lights in the cells came on at the same time as a Weevil leapt at the door, with a _thud _and a angry yell.

Donna shrieked loudly, jumping backwards into Jack. He automatically latched his arms around her body, trapping her arms to her side as she struggled.

"Let. Me. _Go_!" she bellowed, twisting violently. Jack chuckled.

"It's okay," he breathed, "It can't get us. Look. _Look_."

Donna finally ceased her struggles and stared into the black, empty eyes of the creature before her, its lip curled back over its teeth as it snarled. Her hair hung over her shoulders as her blue eyes looked fearfully at it. The Weevil hissed again at them, before retreating back in its cell.

Jack felt Donna relax slightly in his arms, and loosed his grip, bring his hands up over her shoulders and pulling her hair back tenderly, "See? It's not gonna hurt us."

Donna nodded, reaching up to her shoulder and taking one of Jack's hands, squeezing his fingers, "And these are…are _loose _in Cardiff?"

Jack nodded, "Yep. They live in the sewers, and mostly survive down there. Every so often, one comes up,"

Donna nodded, trembling, "And…what, do you _collect _them?"

Jack gave a throat chuckle, "In a way. We keep them here so that they can't hurt anyone; it's our public duty,"

He paused a moment, before reluctantly stepping away from her, detangling his fingers from hers, "Which reminds me…we have some loose in Cardiff right now! Better see to them. You stay here…make yourself at home. Watch TV, order a pizza, read, I'll be back s—"

"Can I come?"

The question was asked so curiously and innocently, as a child might ask, that Jack stopped in his tracks, turning to see Donna smiling up at him, hopeful.

"Umm…Donna, it might be dangerous…"

Donna's brow furrowed, "After all the stuff you say I've done, you think a couple of these Weevil things would be _that _bad?"

Ohhh, that just wasn't _fair_.

Jack didn't realise he'd audibly groaned in defeat until Donna was beside him, a huge grin from ear to ear on her face. She grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the stairs with a cry of "Come on!".

* * *

Gwen leant against the damp alley wall, holding her gun tightly in her hand. Donna stood beside her, leaning around the wall.

"Be careful," Gwen mumbled. Donna shuddered slightly, eyes darting around when she heard a dustbin lid fall with a clatter and she yanked her head back, leaning back against the wall.

"I think I saw it," she mumbled, her eyes bright. Gwen couldn't hold back a smile; Donna was thriving on the adventure of it all. She was naïve to the ways of their world. It'd take time, but the more you work at Torchwood, the less adventurous it becomes, and you realise how dangerous it actually is.

"How do you handle all this?" Donna asked, quietly, looking at the Welsh women. Gwen shrugged, still holding the gun tightly.

"You get used to it, I suppose," she smiled, "Like you probably did, with the Doctor,"

Donna laughed quietly, "I still have trouble believe _I _did all those things."

Gwen shook her head, "You did! You've got to believe it; you're brilliant,"

Donna was about to reply when she heard a snarl. She turned her head and found herself looking into the dark eyes of a Weevil. Before she could even scream, it had grabbed her, pressing a jagged bit of metal to her throat as it dragged her further down the alley.

Its claws dug into one arm, while the other was wrapped around her neck, poised just above her flesh. She swallowed thickly, trembling, as the Torchwood team emerged from their hiding positions; Gwen, Martha, Mickey, Ianto…

_Where was Jack?_

"Shoot it!" Martha, the only weaponless member, shrilled.

"We can't! We might hit Donna," Gwen replied in a low voice, though she didn't lower her gun.

"What can we do?" Ianto asked.

Donna saw Mickey look at something over the Weevil's shoulder, but daren't attempt to turn her head and see. The creature gave a growl, tightening its hold on her like it knew what she was thinking.

Suddenly, Donna felt the creature being pulled away from her. Jack had grabbed it from behind and was pulling it off of her, but the blade it was wielding caught the skin under her ear as was tugged off, dragging through the skin as she cried out in pain, clamping her hand over her wound. She tottered forward, only just caught by Mickey before she fell over.

Martha took Donna's face in her hand, turning it to look at the bleeding wound, but Donna didn't care about that. She pulled away from the doctor's hands to see Jack wrestling with the Weevil; it had the knife, and he had his tranquilizers.

Everything appeared to be moving in slow motion. Jack was struggling to keep the vicious Weevil back, and it had twisted his wrist so that he couldn't fire the gun at it. Jack kicked out and caught the creature in the leg, and it screamed angrily, dropping his wrist.

Gwen raised her gun to shoot it, but Donna grabbed her wrist.

"Don't," she breathed, "You might get Jack,"

Gwen opened her mouth to tell her the truth about Jack, but bit her tongue; he'd tell her when he was ready.

Or maybe he wouldn't have the choice.

Jack hit the Weevil around the head with the butt of its gun, and as it fell, it thrust the blade into Jack's chest, causing him to cry out. Donna shrieked loudly as Jack fell to the ground, his hand over his heart.

Gwen and the rest of the team quickly sedated the Weevil, and Ianto and Mickey hauled it off towards the SUV while Gwen and Martha waited with Donna. The redhead had run to Jack, falling on her knees beside him. Jack grunted and grabbed the blade, starting to pull it out.

"No, don't," Donna whispered, gently stopping his hand. She turned her head, looking at the two women.

"Call an ambulance!" she cried, before looking back to Jack. She could see the life slipping away from his eyes.

"Jack! Hold _on_, damn you!" Donna snapped, gripping his hand. His eyes met hers, and he grinned slightly.

"Here I go again," he whispered hoarsely, squeezing her fingers. Donna frowned in confusion at this odd choice of words, but didn't get time to mull over it as Jack went limp, his head falling back and hitting the concrete.

Donna's eyes widened. "No," she whispered, "Jack, don't _do this_, you little git!"

She felt tears sting her eyes as she shook his shoulders, horrified and frustrated. She swallowed back the lump in her throat, gritting her teeth; it was bad for her so it must be a thousand times worse for Gwen and Martha.

The redhead turned and her eyes widened. Instead of being hysterical like she had expected, Gwen and Martha were leaning against the wall, looking none-too-bothered; in fact, Donna was pretty sure they were talking about what they had done the previous night.

"What the hell?" she breathed, slowly getting to her feet. Gwen looked at her.

"What is it, love?" she asked with a smile. Donna's eyes widened further and she gestured at Jack's body.

"Your boss – your _friend_ – just _died_…and you're CHATTING?!" she exclaimed, angry. Gwen bit her lip, sending a glance at Martha. Donna frowned.

"You're not telling me something," she said in a small voice, "What is it?"

Gwen sighed, "Well…sweetie…it isn't really the _first _time…"

"What isn't the first time?"

Martha rubbed the back of her neck, "Errr…Jack dying,"

Donna opened her mouth to say something when suddenly, Jack's corpse opened his mouth and gasped in air, sitting bolt upright and grabbing Donna's arm. Donna shrieked and jumped away, back against the wall as she stared at the suddenly revived Jack – Jack, still in his blood stained shirt; still with a _knife _sticking out of his heart – completely alive!

Martha and Gwen rushed to his side, hauling him up.

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked, grimacing as she nearly caught herself on the blade. Jack rolled his eyes and grasped the end, pulling it out with some _very _un-gentleman like words.

"Arghh!" he moaned as it finally came out with a sickening _pop_, "_Man_! … what happened then guys?"

"_Weelllll_…" Martha drew out, "You died, we got the Weevil sedated. Ianto and Mick took it away,"

"What about Donna? Was she hurt?" Jack demanded, turning to look at Martha. Martha rubbed the back of her neck, "She did get cut, but it's alright. Just a flesh wound…"

"Where _is _she? She didn't see…this little display, right?"

Martha exhaled, looking pointedly at Donna. Jack turned and his blue eyes met Donna's horrified orbs.

He grimaced "Ahhh…"

* * *

_Please review! xD _

_This WASS an extra-long chapter :)_

_Pahahaha, nothing helps you write like HSM3 songs xD xD xD_

_BETH xxx_


	9. Chapter 8

_I just re-read __my latest chapter of this and was overwhelmed by the thick, unresolved sexual tension between Jack and Donna. I LOVE UST. xDD_

_Er, random…_

_Again, apologies for lack of updates, but now I'm down to 3 unfinished stories! WHOOPEE!_

_Lol _

Disclaimer: HMM…RTD did say at one point that they **make** the show and the fans **own **it… ;) But, unfortunately, not THIS fan. –sigh–

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 8

_Shit_.

Jack stared at Donna, mouth slightly agape; she had _seen _all that?! God, what must she be thinking? He had gone and died on her, while she was still struggling to believe aliens and the supernatural exist; to add even more trouble on her undoubtedly overflowing bucket of abnormalities, she had just been attacked by a critter from a different planet.

Jack's eyes instinctively went to the wound under her ear, which was still bleeding slightly, staining part of her hair a brighter red than usual, and the blood stood out against her pale skin.

"Are you okay?" he asked, before realising what a dumb question that was. He thought he heard Martha sigh beside him, and _definitely _saw Gwen roll her eyes.

"We'll give you a mo'," Martha said, taking Gwen's arm and pulling her towards the SUV.

"_No_!" Jack heard Gwen hiss faintly, "What if he says something stupider…?"

Jack frowned and turned to glare at them, before twisting back to Donna. She had now closed her eyes, and had brought her hands up to massage at her temples.

"Donna. Donna, look, I'm so sorry I didn't—" Jack paused when he saw Donna wince, catching the wound she had under her ear.

"How's the cut?" he asked, momentarily only focused on assuring she didn't bleed to death.

"How was death?" Donna quipped immediately, not even looking up at him. Jack couldn't hide his snigger; she was a quick one.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's just…with everything else, I didn't want to burden you anymore,"

Jack looked at her hopefully, wanting her to talk to him and be okay with this. But, her frown had deepened and her lips were moving as if she was mumbling something.

"What is it?" he asked desperately; he didn't like her being so quiet.

"I can feel it now," Donna said in practically a whisper, "I can feel it, but it's been there all along. So many years, and lifetimes…"

"What has?" Jack asked, panicked.

"You're…" Donna sounded faint, and she didn't bring her head up, her eyes still closed.

"You're so _wrong_."

Jack's stomach dropped. His heart missed a beat. A chill went up his spine. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Those _words_. What the Doctor said…

"_That's why I left you behind. It's not easy even just…just looking at you Jack, 'cause you're __**wrong**__."_

"_Thanks." was his reply, a little sarcastic and joking to mask the hurt._

"_You are, I can't help it. I'm a Time Lord…_

_You're a fixed point in time a space…a fact._

_That's never meant to happen…"_

Jack stared at Donna; now _she_ was singing the same tune?!

"What?" he whispered, slightly hoarsely.

"So wrong. Just to…_feel _you." her voice grew slightly louder, shriller, "Just to _look_!"

Then Donna's head snapped up, her eyes opening wide; Jack nearly leapt a foot in the air.

Instead of the usual blue-green of her eyes, her eye was shrouded in gold, much like the gold that burst from the Doctor when he regenerated.

_Oh God_.

What if she's about to regenerate? He could handle being stabbed by a Weevil, but a regenerating Time Lord? Crap crap crap crap crap…

"Donna!" he exclaimed, stepping forward and reaching a hand towards her. She flinched away and Jack had to fight not to be hurt; she was new at this, maybe the newbies were more sensitive.

"Donna, please," he practically begged. He reached forward and cupped her face with both hands, slightly surprised to find the scratch was all-but healed. What worried him more was how hot her skin was, so hot he almost wanted to snatch his hands away. Instead, he forced himself to look into the bright gold of her eyes, hoping to find some trace of her.

Suddenly, the gold was gone. In the same second, her eyes slid shut and she slumped in Jack's arms, and he barely just caught her.

* * *

Jack sat back in the seat at his desk, firmly clutching a cup of industrial-strength coffee, his eyes never leaving Donna's slumbering form. She lay on his bed, at the other end of his office, and had been sleeping peacefully since they'd brought her back. After she'd fainted into his arms, he'd carried her to the SUV and the Torchwood team had driven back to the hub, where Martha had looked her over and Jack had explained what had happened. Donna's heart rate had been fast and erratic, and her temperature was soared to a temperature nearly three times higher than normal. Although Martha was very much so concerned, Donna's temperature eventually dropped, and her heart rate returned to normal, although she had yet to regain consciousness.

Jack sighed and put down his coffee, climbing out of his chair and walking round to the bed.

He sat down beside her on the bed and sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. She mumbled something incoherent in her sleep and she shifted slightly; Jack started to retract his hand, when she sleepily lifted hers and grabbed his fingers, squeezing them gently as she drifted off again. Jack couldn't help but grin as she slept away, still clinging to his hand.

Gently, he swung his legs up onto the bed, settling down beside her. She shifted again, releasing his fingers as she moved her head onto his shoulder.

"Mmm, nighty-night," she mumbled sleepily, still not a hundred percent aware of her surroundings. Jack wound his arms round her and sighed.

"What's happening to you, Donna?" he asked, stroking her silky hair.

"Sleepin'," came the muffled reply.

* * *

_I know it was a shorty, but it had…stuff happening in it =D Ahaa :P It was pretty boring I know..but we're getting into it now! HURRAH!_

_Please review, sweeties!! And I'll update soon as possible :3_


	10. Chapter 9

_URMM…sorry? :) Ugh, I really am sorry but I've been busy lately!! Holidays in England, illness, tests, blablabla standard excuses, you get my drift. But, here's a new chapter of __Remembering__ for you all!! _

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. But I am SERIOUSLY considering sending this into RTD or whoever runs _Torchwood _(did he quit that too??) and tell him to use this. Heehee, good way to get meh Donna backz and get meh Jack/Donna and 10/Rose on… ;)

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 9

Jack blearily cracked open one eye, blinking in confusion.

Had he been…_asleep_? He couldn't remember the last time he had slept soundly like that!

His dreams were usually plagued with sights he had seen and deaths he had suffered – what was different now?

Jack was about to sit up and investigate the situation when he became aware of the weight against his chest, and he looked down to find Donna lying beside him, her head against his chest and her hand on his heart, still sleeping peacefully. Finally, the memories from the night before flooded back and Jack smiled, his arm tightening around her. Jack grinned and shifted slightly, sitting up against the wall. Donna remained asleep.

_This woman could sleep through __a bomb blast_, he thought fondly, before remembering her strange, golden-eyed experience. Could _that _be the reason for all this sleep?

Jack had no idea what was going on with Donna. He had no idea what terrible things had happened to her since they last met, but you had to assume they _were _terrible…all he knew was she had mysteriously lost her memories, and now some details continued to bleed through and she had weird moments whenever such a event occurred.

If only they could get in touch with the Doctor. If only he cared enough to want to get in contact with them…unless he really _was _in trouble, somewhere millions of miles away, anywhere in the past or future.

_Maybe __I'm__ helping him out sometime in the future…_ he thought humorously, smiling slightly. The fact that he _knew _he'd be around a long way into the future should've worried him, but it didn't. The idea he could be saving the Doctor, helping him get back to Donna made him...

Very very jealous.

Jack suddenly realised he didn't _want _Donna to go. Sure, he wanted her to remember and for the Doctor to come back and figure out the mysterious signal, but he didn't want her to leave him yet, which she undoubtedly would when the Doctor and his amazing time machine showed up.

Jack quickly shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts; he had never known himself to act like that and he had lived a _very _long while. So long, it almost frightened him to be in any sort of relationship; everyone he knew and cared about (save maybe the Doctor) were so innocent and pure, despite things they'd seen themselves, and these amazing human beings…he didn't want to ruin them; he was not innocent and had seen so many things…terrible, _horrible _things…

Jack was yanked out of his past when the door to his office opened, and Ianto stuck his head in, his eyes widening at the sight in there. Jack saw Ianto start to open his mouth and brought a finger to his lips, silently shushing the Welsh man.

Ianto closed his mouth again, his lips pressed together in a stern line, and left the room, the door slamming shut in his wake.

Donna raised her head when the door slammed shut, cringing.

"What's up with _him_?"

Jack blinked, surprised, "I thought you were asleep. How long have you been up?"

"Longer than you," Donna mumbled, stretching her legs out like a cat, "I just couldn't be bothered to move,"

Jack chuckled as she sat up, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Sooo," she began conversationally, "How's my favourite dead man?"

The smile flew off his face, "Ah."

"Yup. I remember that much," she said, leaning against the wall the long side of the bed was pressed against and drawing her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, "You _died_ yesterday and got back up. Who survives being stabbed in the heart, Jack?"

"…I do."

"Okay then. Who are _you_, then?"

Jack blinked at her and she watched, one eyebrow raised, green eyes boring straight into him. Jack searched for a quick, and truthful answer, but with that look and her gorgeous hair tumbling over her shoulder, all Jack could think was _God, you're sexy_.

_Just like you Jack_, a voice tutted in his head, _Always thinking like __that__. _

"Well?"

Donna's stern tone cut into his thoughts and Jack sighed, deciding to give her the truth.

"I died once." Jack began, "I've died many times. But that first time, I was brought back to life. I came back, and since them, I haven't been able to _stay_ dead."

Donna's brow furrowed, "How did you come back first?"

Jack couldn't help the small, nostalgic smile that graced his face, "Rose Tyler."

"…Rose?"

"Yeah. It's complicated, but she looked into the heart of the Tardis – the Doctor's ship, remember? – and absorbed the Time Vortex. She became practically a walking Goddess but she couldn't control it. She had no power over it and when she brought me back it, well…kinda stuck,"

"…_stuck_."

"Yeah."

Donna nodded and leant her chin on her knees, sighing, "I really can't deny the truth now, can I?"

"No," Jack said with a smile.

"Aliens. Immortality. Time travel," Donna chuckled, "It's all the things I stopped believing in at fifteen,"

Jack arched an eyebrow, curious, "What happened then?"

"My mother gave me 'The Talk' which not only involved the birds and the bees, it had an extension of 'stop-believing-in-all-things-like-Santa-and-the-Tooth-Fairy-it's-all-lies-now-condoms are…',"

Jack laughed out loud at that, shaking his head. "You're mother sounds like a _super _lady!" he said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Donna giggled, "I probably need to give her a ring, actually, I'd hate for her or Gramps to start worrying..."

She went to stand up but Jack leaned forward, grabbing her hand, "Donna."

"Yup?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Yesterday, after I…woke up. D'you remember…what happened? Afterwards?"

Donna frowned, "What do you mean?"

"What do you remember from after the Weevil attack?"

Donna pursed her lips, thinking, "Erm…"

Jack bit his lip, wondering – if she _did _remember, it could be a major breakthrough. Something could've happened in her head during that Time Lord-y minute that could help them.

Donna looked Jack in the eye.

"Nope. Nothing I can think of. Why, what happened?"

* * *

_Ugh, that was a bad chapter ¬¬ Or a "filler chapter", one might say..._

_Still, I hope you guys enjoyed and hopefully I can make something __interesting__ happen soon –pounds head on table–_

_Anyway, please review dearies! :D_


	11. Chapter 10

…_I'M A LAZY, LAZY PERSON!!!_

_There. I confessed. _

_:)_

Disclaimer: I own **Doctor Who** about as much as you own it. If you are the owner, well, that was just a coincidence and is not true. If you aren't, well, you know ;)

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 10

Martha Jones frowned slightly, leaning right forward, "So, what did you say?"

"What _could _I say?"

"The truth, Jack!"

"Well, of course I didn't tell her the truth," Jack snapped, leaning back and folding his arms, "She's been through enough,"

"I agree," Gwen said, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder, "You did the right thing,"

"I agree too," Ianto suddenly butted in from the corner he'd been sulking in, "We're not getting through to her; let her go home."

"_What_?!!"

"Well, what else can we do?" Ianto exclaimed, "Maybe the Doctor did this himself – maybe he got tired of her, like he did Martha and you,"

Martha's mouth fell open, stung. Jack spun round to stare at his lover, mortified by the sudden spite. Even Gwen seemed stunned into silence.

The hub was in an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

Broken by a shrill scream.

* * *

Donna was walking through the inner corridors of the Torchwood base, exploring. She'd always had thing for wandering off the beaten track, ever since she was a little girl and wanted to see the dungeons in castles rather than the ornate dining rooms. Her father always loved this, and was often sneaking around with her, laughing it off when Sylvia found them.

She peered inside one door, and her eyebrows rose sharply to see it filled with shelves, all containing weapons. Guns, knives, grenades _(what would a special ops force need grenades for??)_, air rifles and stun guns. Donna emitted a low whistle and gently closed the door, scowling.

Something about guns made her…uneasy, to say the least.

She paused at the ending of the corridor, having found the entrance to the cells. Hesitating momentarily, she stepped in, walking slowly towards the first cell.

A Weevil leapt at the door, but not even the resounding _thud _of its body against plastic made her jump. She stood stock still, arms folded as it prowled close to the floor, hissing. A small smile quirked at her lips; she was getting used to this.

She suddenly heard a sound, and her head snapped up to look at the door. The sound continued, almost like…

Footsteps.

"…Jack?" she called hesitantly, moving towards the doorway. Okay, maybe she _wasn't _used to it just yet.

The sound stopped.

"Are you trying to scare me?" she laughed, and peered out the door.

The corridor was empty. No-one in sight.

Donna frowned and walked back in, sitting down on a chair propped up in between the cells.

And she listened.

She listened inside her own head, probably for the first time in months. And she heard it again, but louder; not footsteps, but a tune. A song. A song that almost made Donna cry, it was filled with such freedom and hope.

_Now I'm hearing things_, she though humourlessly, rubbing at her eyes to clear her suddenly-misty vision, _How ood_.

_Ood_?

Another low growl distracted her, and she turned to look at the Weevil, only to see it had changed; it's head was more oval and smooth, its black eyes ruby-red, and instead of a mouth and fangs, there were long pink strands of flesh, like spaghetti.

Donna leapt to her feet, backing away to the opposite cell, _Oh my…_

It lifted its hand, which clutched a opaque ball, and suddenly it lit up, and it _spoke_.

"Doctor_Donnaaaa_…"

A shrill scream had torn its way out of her mouth before she knew it, and she covered her face with her hands as her world started spinning, her head pounding, her heart thudding so hard against her rips she was sure it'd break them.

_Her heart…_

Suddenly, two strong arms were wrapping around her, a soft voice in her ear, and for one moment, she _remembered_.

"Jack, Jack, Jack!" she breathed, surprised even herself by her raspy voice.

"Donna, I've got you," he answered, "Are you okay?"

"The Doctor!"

Jack stiffened and then pulled away, moving her hands gently away from her face. He swam in her vision for a moment before it finally cleared.

"The Doctor?" Jack said hesitantly.

"Gallifrey, man from Gallifrey," Donna said, blinking rapidly, "Time Lord, two hearts, _grrrrreat _hair, skinny!"

"Yes, that's him!" Jack exclaimed, elated.

"Ood!" Donna cried.

"…what?"

"The Ood, the Ood, the Ood, the DoctorDonna, half me, half him…"

"The DoctorDonna," Jack breathed, stunned she remembered all this, "Okay, what else, Donna? Do you remember what else happened? Where _is _the Doctor?"

"No…" Donna whispered, and she put a hand to her head, "Its going…its slipping away from me, Jack. I'm not supposed to know, not yet…"

Donna felt the skin under her hand was boiling, and she shook her head, "I'm…hot. My skin. Not the time…"

She abruptly stopped and squeezed her eyes shut, Jack still hanging on to her. Her knees gave way and she lost her balance, falling into him, but she remained conscious.

"Donna, do you remember what you were saying?" Jack asked gingerly.

"I was babbling," Donna muttered, shaking her head, "And I was…seeing things. _Hearing _things. That bloody Weevil completely changed…!"

"It's okay," Jack beamed, "If you've forgotten and all that; it's fine. Cos you _remembered_! You knew who you were!"

"...I did?"

"You did! I feel it, we're one step closer!" Jack laughed, ecstatic, "Oh, Donna Noble, you are _brilliant_!"

Donna smiled proudly and was about to respond when Jack cut her off, winding his arms around her waist, pulling her close, and pressing his lips to hers.

* * *

_Hmm, I'm a bit of a cliff-hanger whore aren't I…? :3 _

_Well, please review! We've got to the bit I've been waiting for…the Jack/Donna kiss! *hi-5*_

_Can we get to 100? *hopeful*_

_**REVIEW!!!**_


	12. Chapter 11

_Surprised to see me with__in the month? Ufufufufufufuu 3 I can't help it! I am so currently ga-ga over "Doctor Who", due to all the rumours over the last episode…_

_*zips lip but hugs Chibi!Donna tightly in hope*_

_Oh, and if you review this after 8 o'clock on April 11__th__, PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL DOCTOR WHO FOR ME. I can't see it until tomorrow, cos like an idiot I am in Sweden. *sigh*_

_Thank youu! 8D And please review! _

Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish it was. Life sucks. :'(

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 11

Donna stiffened, her eyes widening; Jack was _kissing _her! Captain Jack Harkness was _kissing _her.

Subconsciously, she braced her hands against her hands against his chest and shoved him away, though not powerfully enough that he moved very far away from her, his hands still on her waist.

"Jack…" she started, looking down at her hands which were still pressed against his chest. She could feel his heart beating quickly against her left hand, and swallowed nervously.

Donna kept her eyes on her hands, unsure of what to say next, when she felt one of Jack's hand move from her hip, coming up to rest against her cheek, stroking her hair softly. She swallowed again, and Jack's hand moved under her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his. Now, she found she couldn't look away from his light blue eyes, shining with a emotion Donna couldn't for the life of her place, but one that she had always longed to see.

He, similarly, was transfixed by her eyes, which were looking so wide and innocent into his. Jack found himself, for the first time, looking properly at them; the green irises flecked with green, all the emotions held within them. He sighed slightly, suddenly finding that he was holding his breath.

He swallowed, throat dry, and whispered, "Yeah?", for lack of anything else to say. Donna shifted slightly, sliding her hands up his chest to take hold of his shirt collar, before pulling him down to her, her lips meeting his forcefully. He responded eagerly, the hand on her chin sliding into her soft red hair and the other resting on her side, feeling her ribs underneath his palm.

Jack had lived a very long time, such a long time that until a couple of months ago, he didn't believe he had anything else to accomplish in his life. He had done all he dreamed of doing; travelled the world, had some adventures, seduced woman upon woman. But now, during that kiss, he could feel opportunity, chance, _hope_, under his fingertips; Jack could see things in his – _their _– future he'd never before dreamed of. A house in the countryside, a picket fence, swings, apple trees, a mortgage and a marriage, kids. _Domesticity_, a word that usually made laugh because old Jack knew his world was too complicated, but this Jack wouldn't let anything stand in his way.

Then, he remembered his responsibilities; how could he change his whole world when he had Torchwood, a team who needed him, Ianto…

_Ianto_.

His friend, his lover, his confidante. Ianto had never been shy of his feelings for Jack, although both of them knew Jack's where never as strong. He _did _care for the shy teaboy, but whatever those feelings were, they weren't as powerful as whatever he felt for Donna; feelings that had only just become obvious in the twisting of his gut, the hammering of his heart, and, of course, his lips on hers.

Then he thought of Ianto's cherubic face, smiling happily as he always did, constantly being able to stay happy throughout a bad situation…and what it might be like if he found out about _this_; hurt, angered, betrayed.

And suddenly he couldn't get Ianto's hurt face out of his mind, and he found himself pulling away from Donna, staggering back as he caught his breath.

"W-what are we doing?" he gasped, shaking his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts.

"Jack," Donna said in a little voice, stepping closer, "I thought you'd been around long enough to, you know, _know _what we were doing…"

He looked up at her then, and took her in, her head turned downward towards the floor, her red curls slightly dishevelled around her shoulders, her face flushed slightly from both embarrassment and the kissing, her lips plump and red from being snogged madly moments before. Jack wanted nothing more than to grab her and kiss her all over again but he controlled his impulses, stepping towards her slightly but keeping a certain distance.

"Donna, look…I think you're in a very vulnerable place right now. I mean, let's face it, I have sorta just unloaded all this stuff about aliens and other worlds onto you, and you must be feeling pretty alone amongst all these strangers…"

"I don't feel that way at all." Donna interrupted.

"No, I think maybe you do. And its natural…"

"Stop putting words in my mouth!" Donna cried, looking up at him, "Of course I don't feel like you're all strangers; on the contrary, I feel very at home with the lot of you, and I don't understand why you are trying to make up these excuses for me. I didn't kiss you because I felt _vulnerable _or _lonely_. I kissed you because, for God's sake, I _wanted to_."

Jack closed his mouth, stunned slightly at this confession. Donna swallowed thickly, and nervously reached up to tuck a errant curl behind her ear.

Jack followed the movement with his eyes carefully, his fingers twitching to reach out and stroke her fiery hair.

"O-oh?" he stammered, still not used to women saying such things to him, even after all these years.

"Yeah," Donna muttered self-consciously, "I know we haven't known each other long at all, but, I feel like it's been a lot longer. Like…"

She couldn't quite meet his gaze as she said, "Like we could face the end of the world together and get out together just fine,"

Jack bit back the words on the tip of his tongue, about to inform her that they had actually done just that.

"I dunno what it is, Jack," Donna sighed, "But something about you that's made me like you from the very start, even when I thought you were some weirdo in an army coat…"

_And who's __he__? _

The question rang in both of their minds, familiar to Jack who had run it through his memory a lot in the past months, but unfamiliar to Donna.

"Donna," Jack said slowly, his eyes meeting hers regretfully, "I-I get it, I honestly do, and you don't know how much I wish I could say the same right now…but…"

Jack couldn't help but notice how, as he said this, Donna's face didn't show any sign of hope. Whenever he spun a similar line to other girls, they would look hopefully up at him, only for those dreams to be dashed. Now, when he _actually _meant it, Donna just looked seriously at him, and Jack couldn't help but wonder what stupid jackass had hurt her so much she couldn't hope.

"Oh not 'but'!" Donna moaned, rubbing a hand over her face, "Anything but 'but'."

Jack bit back a wry grin and continued, "But… I dunno if you've noticed over the past couple of weeks, but me and…and Ianto…"

Donna's eyebrows shot up, "What's Ianto got to do with anythi-oh!"

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly in realisation, "_Ohhhhhhh_."

"Yeah." Jack said uncomfortably, "And I just can't…I won't…God, Donna, I can't hurt him! I have hurt a lot of people in my time but please, God, I won't hurt him, no matter _what _I want!"

He shook his head and turned walking hurriedly out of the room, leaving Donna alone, things still left unsaid.

* * *

_-.-"_

_Well it wasn't all gonna be easy peasy!! Lol xD_

_Please review!! I don't think this chapter was so good, but I hope it was okay :)_

_Beth xxx_


	13. Chapter 12

_Sorry for the wait people ^^" I've just been busy as of late – shameful, I know!! Haha. _

_But, my precious Chibis have been pushing me to update. *glares at Chibi!Jack who is holding a stick* _

_He wants to know how it works out with Donna ¬¬ As I'm sure you have been as well xD LOL. _

_Chibi!Donna has been even MORE desperate O_o *looks concernedly at Chibi!Donna, who is holding Chibi!10 and Chibi!Master hostage* Let the Hotness go!!! _

_Anywayy…lets fulfil the Chibis' wishes and get this chapter going!!_

Disclaimer: On **opposite** day, Doctor Who is totally mine. It isn't opposite day today. Boo! :(

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 12

Jack didn't look back as he stormed through the hallways and back up to the main Hub, yet his thoughts didn't stray away from Donna. All he _could_ think about was her! Her hair, her big blue-green eyes, her _lips_…

He stopped suddenly, having to grip the doorframe tightly to stop himself spinning around and running back to kiss her all over again.

Jack Harkness had lived so long that he couldn't remember the names of all the women he had met, let alone how he'd felt about them, but he knew that whatever he was feeling for Donna was a hell of a lot stronger than anything he had before.

He thought, yet again, of the age-old idea of soul mates – he had given up the idea _years_ before, but it cropped up in his head again; could he actually have found his soul mate? He had always assumed he was right in thinking there was no such thing – if anything, the Doctor had proved you could always find many brilliant companions, even if they were _just _friends. But the Doctor had still found love, in Rose, and maybe Jack had found his one too.

Having gained his self-control again, he went through the door and into the Hub, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Jack, is everything alrigh' down there?" Gwen asked immediately, looking up from the computer she had been typing on.

"Fine," Jack answered a little _too _quickly, "Absolutely fine. Nothing wrong down there at all,"

Gwen frowned, and said slightly unsurely, "And…is Donna…?"

"Donna's fine. Just – err – slipped and screamed a little loud."

Martha exchanged a look with Gwen, before saying, "Jack…what's going on there?"

"What's going on where?" Jack sounded confused.

"With…" sparing a glance, at Ianto, who was standing moodily with his back turned, Martha steeled herself and said clearly, "Between you and Donna."

Ianto spun around so suddenly he almost threw himself off balance.

_Calm down_, his mind said, not unreasonably, but his heart was hammering so wildly in his chest he felt the need to do everything at double the speed.

Ianto _knew _he wasn't being reasonable – Jack had made it clear that what they had was little more than a fling, but after he returned from meeting the Doctor for the first time in so long, Jack had seemed more eager to have a _relationship_ and, darn it, Ianto had let himself fall like a lovesick schoolgirl, after keeping so carefully steely after what happened with Lisa. Yet Jack had always seen much more withdrawn with his feelings than Ianto had, and Ianto had often thought that Jack must not feel as strongly as he did. Yet he persevered, falling more deeper and deeper in love with Jack, and now…now, he saw Jack looking at Donna the same way Ianto wished he'd look at him, and that morning when he and Gwen had walked in on them dancing together, in each others' arms...all his brain's rational arguments had flown out of his head in a sudden blind rage of jealousy.

He half argued that it was just because he couldn't stand Donna, but he knew full well that he _did _like Donna – in fact he liked her very much.

It was just because he felt very strongly for Jack.

In fact, scratch that.

He was in _love _with Jack.

…

Oh boy.

* * *

Donna leant heavily against the wall of the cell, sighing heavily. Her head was still in a whirl from the mixture of that fan_tastic _kiss and Jack's sudden rebuke. It was the rebuke that confused her the most…she had felt all his passion for her in that kiss, and Jack's garbled excuse hadn't explained anything. Only that he and Ianto were…a _thing_.

Oh Lord, how had she not _guessed _about Ianto and Jack? Ever since she had arrived, and started spending time with Jack, Ianto _had _been acting weird around her, but she never even suspected…!

She sighed again and brought her knees up, wrapping her arms around them and resting her forehead against them.

She had no doubt about Jack's feelings for her, but right now, Donna knew he had to choose between her and Ianto.

* * *

"Between me and...and _Donna_?" Jack exclaimed, his voice a pitch higher. Martha didn't look away from him, completely commited to getting her answer.

"Why would you...even _ask _that?" he demanded, looking pointedly at Ianto. She arched an eyebrow.

"That's _exactly _why I'm asking." she snapped, suddenly stepping even closer to him so she could lower her voice.

"I need to make sure you are not hurting _him_ because he doesn't deserve it. And I need to make sure you are not leading _her _on because she doesn't deserve to get hurt either. Donna is here for us to _help _her, not to be led on like that."

Jack looked her straight in the eye, before saying in a small voice, "I don't want to hurt..._anyone_. And I won't."

He raised his eyes to look at Ianto, and repeated, "I won't."

Ianto smiled humorlessly, as if to say _Yeah, sure_.

* * *

_Ugh. I'm sorry for the filler chapter ¬_¬ _

_But I just did a 4.1km run and I am knackered so I'm gonna.. *snore* _

_Review! xxx_


	14. Chapter 13

_I am trying to be as good a updater as I can, I swearz! I have just been kinda busy as of late, but now that school is winding up, I can work a bit harder on my stories lmao :P_

_But I also have a jam-packed summer, annoyingly! I hope I can get internet in America, where I am going this summer :DD _

_Starbucks baby (y) _

_Lmaoo, Starbucks + Converse rock my world (h) _

_Anyway…:_

**Disclaimer:** I own nada. Sucks to be me and whatnot.. :(

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 13

_Her blue-green eyes flashed dangerously as she ran her nails gently up and down his chest, undoing a few of the top buttons, the tips of her fingers momentarily touching the flesh beneath; Jack shuddered slightly, longing to feel more of her skin against his, but she seemed adamant not to comply. _

_She stepped closer to him, her body suddenly pressed up against him, her breath ghosting against the side of his neck. _

"_Do you ever wonder what it__'s like?" she asked quietly, her lips gently brushing his skin. A shiver ran up his spine, his hands automatically taking hold of her hips, clutching at the fabric there._

"_What it's like to _touch _me?" she continued._

"_What it's like to touch you?" he repeated slowly. Donna smirked against his neck. _

"_To kiss me?" she whispered, feeling him tremble under her hands. He nodded frantically, burying his face into the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent._

"_To feel me…_under _you?" _

_This last two words shocked Jack, and he jolted slightly, taking a step back. She stared back at him, a smug smirk on her lips. _

"_I—" he began…_

"Jack!"

Jack Harkness jolted awake to find Gwen Cooper leaning over him, frowning.

"Are you okay, Jack?" Gwen asked, her large eyes blinking as she helped him into a sitting position. Jack looked around, slowly realising he was on the sofa in the Torchwood hub.

"I-I'm fine…" Jack mumbled, running a hand through his hair as his dream flashed vividly in his mind.

"You sure? You were makin' strange noises in yur sleep." Gwen told him, clearly worried. Jack gritted his teeth together; lately, Gwen had been grating on his nerves. In fact, _everybody _had been grating on his nerves since he cut away from Donna; all of them kept giving him weird glances, getting in between them whenever he got too close to her, distracting Donna whenever she began to make her way towards him. They all had decided it was a bad idea, and were going out of their way to make sure whatever could've been never would be. Well, they were certainly wasting their effort! Jack had made it quite clear he had made that decision himself, hadn't he? And that he was completely loyal to his team, and Ianto.

"Was I?" he asked dryly, unsurprised given the circumstances of his dream.

"Yeah," Gwen smiled, "Just little moans and groans, and the occasional 'please'. I assumed you were being tortured or summat."

"Yep, I certainly was."

Gwen smiled smugly, clearly happy her assumption had been correct. Jack didn't think it nessicary to tell her the exact circumstances of his torture.

A moment later, Ianto entered the hub, and Jack stood up upon his arrival, grinning hugely.

"Ianto! There's my main Welshman!" he exclaimed, bouncing over to the surprised Ianto and flinging his arms around him, planting a big wet kiss right on his mouth.

Ianto gave a fake smile as Jack released him, moving into the centre of the hub and still talking non-stop. Ever since he had begun avoiding Donna, Jack had been acting so false around him; before, he had been there yet absent, and they were pretty casual despite his strong feelings. Now, he was trying to be the best boyfriend he could, and he wasn't happy at all; Ianto could see that. But, he wasn't ready to let Jack go, so he allowed himself to ignore his unhappiness, even though it hurt him just as much to see his Captain suffer more. And so Ianto kept his smile on, and opened the folder from under his arm.

"Jack, we have a Weevil sighting on Cartwheel Street; it was seen skulking around someone's home and may have forced entrance. Sounds pretty serious."

"That it does!" Jack cried, grinning manically, before yellowing, "Martha! Mickey! Let's roll, its Weevil Time!"

"Can I come?"

Jack whirled around to see Donna standing in the doorway behind him, staring innocently at him with those green-blue eyes. Jack swallowed shakily, waves of heat washing over him as he remembered that dream, before saying in a small voice:

"I don't think so."

Donna's eyes flashed and she dropped her head; Jack could see she was upset and _loathed _himself for it.

Gwen and Martha, who had just arrived, looked at each other, wondering how they were going to get in between this one.

"It's just…" Jack swallowed again, "Last time, you were hurt. I don't want that to happen again."

"I'll be fine." Donna said forcefully, still not meeting his eye.

"It's not safe."

"I'm a big girl, Jack," she suddenly cried, snapping her head up, "I can look after myself! I am capable of making my_ own _decisions!"

Jack met her gaze and tried to communicate with her silently that he was worried about her safety, that's why he was doing this. But she glared back, unyielding, and he sadly realized that this wasn't about the Weevil business. It was about him cutting himself off from her.

She was mad at him for it.

"Oh, for God's sake!" came an annoyed voice, and Jack turned to see Mickey Smith, arms folded and fixing him with the evil eye.

"Just let her come, she could help," he snapped, nodding friendily at Donna. She smiled back.

"How '_help_'?" Jack snarled, "She isn't even a recruited Torchwood agent!"

"She could be bait," Mickey said cheekily with a wink.

Instead of the anger Jack expected, he heard Donna _giggle _in a schoolgirl manner behind him, before pushing past him, slapping Mickey lightly on the arm.

"'_Bait_'! I'd like to see you try to feed me to a bloody Weevil, Mickey-boy!"

"I could always try…"

The duo left the hub, arms linked, followed by Gwen and Ianto, both casting worried looks back at their dumfounded boss. Martha stepped towards Jack, frowning.

"You okay?" she asked softly. Jack's face darkened, and Martha saw a flash of something in his eyes.

"Fine." he snapped, following his team out of the hub and leaving Martha alone.

She sighed, and thought back to that _flash_ in his eyes – it was familiar to her, as she had seen it many times while traveling with the Doctor. She had seen it every time she had looked in the mirror, and thought of him…then thought of Rose. It was jealousy.

Martha sighed again and left the hub, wondering if maybe Jack Harkness was in deeper than she thought.

* * *

The Torchwood team pulled up outside of 7 Cartwheel Street; a redbrick detached house lay in darkness before them, neatly cut grass spread before it and a red wall separated the garden from the pavement. Upon getting out, Ianto lay eyes on a woman sitting on the wall, looking worriedly at them.

He nodded politely at her and opened the gate, heading up towards the front door.

"Knocking on the door won't be very useful to you, I'm afraid, since the only occupant of that house is out here."

Ianto turned around to see the woman sitting on the wall had spoken to him. His team, all still standing around the van watched as he approached her.

"Do you live here?" Ianto asked.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" the woman sniped. Ianto blinked, surprised.

The woman revealed she was tall as she stood up, with chin-length blonde hair and blue eyes accented by thick-rimmed glasses. Her figure was naturally skinny, although Ianto limited himself in what he admired of her body, all to aware of Jack nearby. She spoke with an English accent instead of the rough Welsh of this area.

"Ianto Jones," he introduced himself, smiling sweetly as he held a hand out. She didn't take it.

"I'm Bryn," she said, "Are you here to help with that man?"

"Man? Erm, I mean, yes! We're Torchwood, a special ops. police force." Ianto told her, gesturing to Gwen, Mickey, Donna, Martha and Jack. Bryn nodded politely at them before turning back to Ianto.

"He looked pretty brutal; are you sure you can cope?" Bryn asked, stepping around the wall and slowly walking up the garden path with him.

"Of course. It's just a human, right?" Ianto laughed falsely.

"See, I'm not…entirely sure it is," Bryn muttered, looking at the floor.

"What do you mean?"

Bryn sighed, running a hand through her short hair, "See, when I woke up – I had a hard day at work, I don't just go to bed so early by the way – and found it in my bathroom, it didn't turn around and yell at all. It…_growled_."

The word sent shivers down Ianto's spine, even though he knew of the Weevils' ways.

"Anyway, I got a somewhat good look at its face and it just…it didn't look _human_. I don't know if it was in a fire or something, or hideously deformed, but it didn't look like it had ever been one of us. And then, the way it behaved was positively animalistic."

She stopped suddenly, turning to look imploringly at him.

"You don't think I'm _crazy_, do you?"

Ianto shook his head, "No. I don't."

_Great_. Another person who need retcon-ning.

Bryn smiled softly, "Thank you."

She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. Ianto swallowed slightly at the sudden spark that flew between their fingers…then she let go, and it was gone as if it never happened.

"Are you sure about going in?" Bryn asked, pulling a key out of her pocket, "I managed to secure it in here, but it might still be waiting right inside…"

"Seriously, Bryn," Ianto chuckled, "We're professionals."

He waved at his teammates who advanced along the path. Bryn nodded at Ianto and handed him the key.

* * *

_I love filler chapters x3 :D hahaa. _

_I hope this was okay – it may have been boring but essential haha :) _

_Review!!! xxx _

_P.S. Bryn, if you are reading, I finally introduced the sexy blonde Bryn lmao ;) xDD loveyou! :)_


	15. Chapter 14

**Remembering**

Chapter 14

The front hall of Bryn's house was long, with several doors into either wall and one right at the end – this one was slightly ajar and a slit of light fell out into the hall.

"I thought all the lights were off." Gwen hissed, her hand tightening around the gun in her holster.

"I don't recall saying that," Bryn said darkly, turning her head back to look at her.

"You said you were asleep. What, do you sleep with all the lights on? What happened to conserving energy?" Gwen sniped.

"Okay, who is this bimbo?" Bryn demanded, looking back at Ianto.

"_Ladies_." Ianto hissed, taking Bryn by the arm and pulling her up beside him so she could show him the way. Gwen rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

Donna stepped through the doorway after Martha and Mickey, and Jack followed, careful to keep his distance from the redhead.

Bryn slowly led the team towards the door at the end, but as she reached it, Ianto stepped in front of her, smiling sweetly at her.

"Now, now, we can't allow civilians to get hurt." he tutted.

"Maybe not civilians," Bryn smiled just as sweetly, "But you are in _my_ home…_Ianto_."

Ianto's eyebrows flew up, and he could barely bite back a smile.

"Well, _Bryn_, I rather think we are more equipped to handling this serious case than—"

Before he could finish, the ajar door in front of them flew open, hitting Ianto and causing him to fall backwards into the wall, hitting his head with a loud _crack_ and falling with a thump to the floor. The Weevil flew out of the doorway, roaring.

Bryn opened her mouth to scream but, before she could, the Weevil had knocked her away so she fell onto the unconscious Ianto.

"Look out!" Gwen exclaimed, backing up into Martha and pulling her gun from the holster. Martha gave out a small shriek of surprise as the Weevil came barrelling at them, and shoved Mickey back in her haste to move away, who in turn knocked Donna straight into Jack's arms.

"Come on!" Jack muttered, grabbing Donna firmly and pulling her back, kicking open a door and pulling her in to the dark room.

It turned out that this dark room was barely the size of a closet, with a small desk and a dark computer in one corner, and a window above it showing the dark garden.

Jack quickly slammed the door shut and pushed Donna up against it, pressing himself tight to her so he could place his ear on the part of door right beside her ear. Donna held her breath, clenching her hands tightly at her sides, secretly revelling in the feel of Jack up against her like this.

"W-what are we doing…_in here_?" Donna asked finally, once she regained comprehension.

"Hiding from the Weevil," Jack whispered.

"_Why_?" Donna demanded quietly, turning to look at him and finding herself admiring the back of his neck, "I've seen you die once already, I think I could probably handle it again."

"I may be able to come back to life," Jack muttered, before suddenly turning his head to look at her, "But you wouldn't be able to."

Donna swallowed thickly, her eyes meeting his gaze.

Jack's head suddenly leant further forward, so close their mouths were millimetres apart and she could feel his breath ghosting over her lips and she gave a shuddering sigh, eyes wider than ever.

Then, there was a knock at the door.

Jack stepped away from her smartly, not meeting her eye as he moved round her and opened the door to see Mickey standing there, looking puffed out.

"It's all safe, boss," he grinned, "We had to chase the bugger around for a while, but that Bryn chick got him with a chair to the head. Gwen and I just moved him into the van,"

"Good." Jack said, not smiling, "And how's Ianto?"

"Ah, he'll be alrigh'. He's awake now; there's a bit of blood but nothing to be worried about. Martha is bandaging him up in the kitchen right now."

"Great," Jack muttered, pushing past him and walking down the hallway. Mickey frowned after him before looking back at Donna.

"What's up with Captain Cheesecake?" he asked.

Donna shook her head. Not answering, she also slipped by Mickey and walked towards the kitchen. Once she had found it, she discovered Ianto sitting on a kitchen counter, grimly scowling as Martha wrapped a bandage around his head.

"That bad, huh?" she grinned, falsely cheerful as she leant on the counter beside him.

"This is just to stop the bleeding," Martha told her with a smile.

"I'll be fine," Ianto said.

"Nice try," Martha teased, "He's just upset cos he'll need a stitch or two back at the Hub,"

Just then, Bryn appeared beside them, passing a cup of tea to Ianto and one to Martha.

"What's 'the hub'?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing you need to know about," Gwen called from the corner of the room, where she was packing up equipment.

"Well, aren't you just Miss Friendly!"

"Well, its secure stuff I'll have you know…"

"Please, not this again," Ianto groaned, "My head hurts enough, thank you."

Bryn grinned and stood on her tippy-toes, pressing a kiss to his forehead, "Better?"

Ianto blushed, "Much, thank you…"

"Well, Bryn," Jack said, patting the woman in question on the shoulder, "We're all sorted out here – are you alright? No injuries, no damage…?"

Bryn shrugged, "As far as I know, no."

"Well, a few of us will come back tomorrow just to…" Jack hesitated, before saying, "Check up,"

He looked meaningfully at Ianto, who felt his stomach flip – retcon.

"Well, let's get going!" Jack grinned cheerfully, turning towards the door.

As he turned, his eyes met Donna's and they both faltered, just staring at each other.

Then he brushed past her and left the kitchen.

* * *

"This is the _liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifee_," she groaned, drawing out the last word.

He chuckled beside her, settling comfortably back in his sun chair.

"Nothing like good out Barcelona, hmm?" he grinned.

"Well, the city is nice an' all, but _nothing _compared to the _planet_!"

The Doctor chuckled and pushed his sunglasses up on his head, looking sideways at Rose Tyler who, after spending ten minutes squeaking about the dogs without noses and the natives of the planet – who were all humans with skin that glowed purple under the ultraviolet sun –, she had certain settled well into life on planet Barcelona, especially when she realised that this particular ultraviolet sun made you tan twice as fast, with a lesser chance of sunburn.

She was currently reclining on her own sun chair beside him, dressed in a white bikini with her blonde hair in a ponytail and a bright pink cocktail in her hand.

"I could stay here forever," she sighed, smiling.

"I wish we could," the Doctor agreed, "But I think you would get bored eventually. And so would I. And, believe it or not, the Tardis isn't the _biggest _fan of standing still in a boiling sun."

"Spoilsport," Rose muttered cheekily. The Doctor laughed, sipping his own cocktail (banana flavoured of course).

"What shall we do," the Doctor asked with a small yawn, "When we do eventually leave?"

He sensed Rose shift slightly beside him, before saying, "Actually, I have been thinking maybe we could…stop by on…on Earth? _Modern _day Earth?"

The Doctor's head snapped round to look at her, eyes wide, "W-why? Why would we do that?"

"Well, Doctor, I _have _been travellin' with you again for a while now, and we have had so many amazing adventures on many alien planets. And we've been to the future, and to the past, and it has been incredible. But we can't avoid modern day Earth forever," Rose sighed, "Have you even been back since after the Dalek crucible?"

"No." he said gruffly, "And I would I want to, after everything that happened? More importantly, why would _you_? It's not like your mother is still there."

Rose flinched, and the Doctor instantly felt bad. He knew she was still sore about leaving all her family, even after all these months – she had told him about her mother's words before he had lost her the first time. He knew she still remembered Jackie's words exactly:

"_What happens when I'm gone? No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then? … And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman - this strange woman... walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. She's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human…_"

He knew she feared it – feared losing her humanity. But when she had asked to come with him again, she _knew _he'd have a reason not to go back to Earth; she _knew _that he couldn't face his guilt.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor mumbled, "I shouldn't have said that…"

Rose sighed and forced a smile, reaching across and squeezing his hand, "It's okay, Doctor. You're right – she's not there anymore. And all of my other family and friends think I'm dead. But there's still Martha, and Jack and the Torchwood gang,"

The Doctor smiled slightly at her use of the word '_gang_'.

"Shut up," Rose laughed, poking her tongue out through her teeth, "_Any_way, there's also…Donna."

The Doctor stiffened, "No."

"Doctor…"

"_No_. I can't go anywhere near it, nor can I risk it."

He pulled his hand away from her and sat up, shaking his head, "Listen, if she remembers _anything_, anything at all about our time together…!"

"Yeah, yeah, she'll burn up, you've told me," Rose sighed, "But I'm not saying you walk up to her in the street. Just…_check _on her. Make sure she isn't starting to remember. Make sure she's okay. Don't you owe it to her to make sure she's happy?"

The Doctor looked her in the eye, and bit down on his lip.

A week later, the Doctor and Rose Tyler were back in the Tardis, setting coordinates for Chiswick.

* * *

HAHAHA, there was more of the Doctor+Rose than the actual story LOL.

_Well, I felt I owed them a bit ^^_

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was just a li'l boring :S _

_Please review! I'll update again when I get to urmm…__**160**__ reviews :D_

_Why not? :)_

_Beth xxx_

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own "Doctor Who". 14 chapters and I still gotta say that???!!_


	16. Chapter 15

**Remembering**

Chapter 15

Donna sat on the sofa in the Torchwood hub, reading glasses perched on the end of her nose, her face buried in a book. She raised it quite purposefully so it would block her stupid glasses – she hated having to wear them! They made her feel much older than she was, but lately she found herself growing more fond of them. Even if her eyesight seemed to be getting better.

"Donna?"

She looked up with an eyebrow raised at the voice, and saw Martha standing over her, a folder in her arms and a smile on her face. Donna snapped her book shut, smiling widely.

"Morning, Martha," she beamed, patting the seat beside her. Martha grinned and perched on the sofa, placing the folder squarely in her lap.

"So how's Tom today?" Donna asked, taking off her glasses and tucking them into her pocket.

There was a pause, before Martha said quietly, "You remember Tom, then?"

"Your fiancé? How could I forget!" Donna exclaimed, grinning.

"Well…I told you about him a long time ago." Martha told her. Donna frowned slightly, and opened her mouth once or twice as if she was going to say something before closing it.

"We've only known each other a couple of weeks…I think," Donna mumbled, "But, you're right, it _was _a long time ago. Before I…came…here?"

Martha smiled slightly at Donna's uncertainness, "The proof really is staggering, isn't it?"

"Yes! But I don't get how I could forget something as wonderful as travelling with this Doctor," Donna sighed.

"Well, it certainly was a fantastic experience; believe me, I know!" Martha laughed, patting Donna's shoulder, "Anyway, to answer your first question, Tom is just fine. I think he's getting some pre-wedding jitters though, even though it still is a month away!"

"Really? Well, that is pretty close now, isn't it?"

"Not to me. I just…can't wait to marry him." Martha said quietly, looking away with a small smile, "A month seems like forever to me."

Donna couldn't help but notice the way Martha's demeanour changed when talking about Tom – her whole body relaxed and her eyes lit up as if just mentioning him made her day; her smile was smaller, but far more happy than it had been before. Donna felt a warm feeling spreading through her chest at the love Martha had, and thought Tom was a very lucky man.

It kinda reminded her of the look on the Doctor's face when he saw…

Donna's head was suddenly flooded with images; _a tall man in a brown suit standing in the middle of a long, empty street, gazing at a woman standing the other end. She was blonde, wearing a purple jacket and holding a huge gun, but her face wore the biggest smile, as if oblivious to the crisis the world was in._

_And then they were running toward each other, and Donna had to purse her lips together to keep an exclamation of joy bursting from her. This was what she'd always wanted – she knew he deserved this happiness! She knew he deserved to once again be with..._

That's when she felt the pain – it was like a ball of fire slowly expanding in her head, spreading to her chest and throughout her whole body. She couldn't think or see, and she was vaguely aware of a hand – her own hand it seemed – raising and pressing to her forehead, only to feel the hot skin beneath. It felt hot enough that it might scorch her.

And then she heard a voice; a calming voice right at the back of her mind, a female voice that sounded strangely familiar, like someone you'd known your whole life but couldn't quite remember the name of.

"_Not yet_," it said soothingly, and Donna knew that if it had a bodily form, it would be smirking, "_Not right now, but soon. For now, just…forget._"

And she did.

* * *

Martha frowned at Donna, getting worried now. She had been quiet for several minutes now, and she seemed to be in pain, a frown on her face and her hand pressed to her forehead. She could also see her forehead and cheeks were flushed slightly, just enough that only someone looking closely would notice, and spread down her neck and across her collarbone.

Something wasn't right.

"Donna, are you alright?" she asked, leaning forward and hesitantly placing her hand on her friend's knee. As if he could almost sense when something wasn't right with their guest, Jack was suddenly at her side, kneeling next to Donna.

"What's wrong?" he asked seriously. Martha glanced at him, seeing the overpowering worry and fear in his eyes.

"I dunno. She just…went quiet," Martha whispered, her own fear that they might lose Donna twisting her stomach – she was a doctor, for Christ's sake! She shouldn't let stuff like this get to her so much!

But then again, doctors weren't allowed to treat their friends or family…

Suddenly, Donna's hand dropped from her forehead, and her eyes opened to stare, confused, at the two of them. Martha realised that during the time since Jack had arrived, Donna's skin had lost the flush, and she looked…normal.

"Everything okay?" she asked unsurely, looking from Martha to Jack and back.

"We were worried about you!" Martha said, breathing out unsteadily, "You kinda went off into a…trance."

"Trance?" Donna repeated, arching an eyebrow incredulously.

"Maybe you triggered something in her brain," Jack suggested, never having taken his eyes from Donna. He reached out and took her hand, squeezing her fingers softly.

"Do you remember something?" he asked gently, looking straight into her eyes. She met his gaze, and he noticed her lips pursing as she tried to think.

"Jack," she said, worrying her bottom lip, "I don't think I need to remember just yet."

Martha frowned at her choice of words – _'I don't think I need to remember __**yet**__'??!! _– but Jack didn't seem to notice, shaking his head, frustrated.

"Donna…we're not talking about something you have to pick up at a certain time only. These are your _memories_. _Your _memories, which have been stolen by…well, by God knows who! And whoever took them may have trapped the Doctor, or even have _killed _him."

Donna didn't know why, but the idea of someone killing the Doctor caused a shudder to run up her spine as her heart filled with dread.

"We've got to help him," Jack finished, imploring her with his eyes. Donna nodded slowly.

"I know, I know," she said quietly.

Jack suddenly seemed to notice their positions – him kneeling before her, holding her hand with both of his and looking deep into each other's eyes – and jumped back, pretending as if he was stretching. Donna blinked, surprised by his move.

"A-atta girl!" he stammered, giving her a thumps up sign.

_I did __not__ just give her a thumps up…_ Jack thought with a quiet groan, mentally kicking himself. She was staring at him with wide eyes, eyebrows practically up to her hairline, and Martha sat next to her, her hand pressed to her forehead having slapped herself in the head at her boss's stupidity.

_Not the face-palm_. Jack thought sadly as he walked away.

Staying loyal to Ianto with Donna around really was harder than he thought it'd be.

* * *

Donna watched Jack walk away, still wearing a stupefied expression.

"Is…is he hungover or something?" she asked shrilly, turning back to Martha. Martha shrugged.

"Perhaps. You never know with him," Martha chuckled, shaking her head.

"Well, okay…" Donna grinned slightly, "I can't believe he just walked away though. When he said all that about remembering, I thought he'd insist on one of those sessions he so likes,"

"We are gonna do one." Martha said. Donna's smile faded, "What?"

"Yes, that's what I'm here for," Martha told her, "Jack asked me to do it today cos he's busy, apparently. But maybe it would make more sense for me to do it – I have travelled with the Doctor. …more recently at least. Anyway…"

Suddenly, the younger woman was brandishing the folder in Donna's still-shocked face, grinning proudly.

"Here I have a couple of souvenirs from my time with the Doctor. Diaries, autographs, that sorta thing. Although don't go talking to much about the autographs – Gwen is still out for my Marilyn Monroe one, and you do _not _want Jack starting on his supposedly true stories about him and her. They get pretty _graphic_…"

"Hmm…I'm sure," Donna mumbled distractedly, leaning back into the sofa.

She wasn't stupid. She knew Jack was avoiding her.

And she knew that meant he'd chosen Ianto.

* * *

Ianto sat in the Torchwood SUV outside Bryn's house, willing himself to go in and do his job.

Jack had come to him that morning and told him to go and retcon her – they didn't need too many civilians knowing about their business. Ianto had agreed easily enough but had been sitting outside for forty-five minutes, reluctant to go and erase all memory of him from her mind.

She was so different from his usual type (when it came to women, at least); she was ballsy, she spoke her mind, and she faced the idea of having an alien in her house bravely. But she actually seemed to genuinely like him.

God, it had been ages since he had thought about a woman like this – not since Lisa, and that experience had knocked his confidence very much so, which is probably why he turned to Jack, who made him feel much safer and secure. For once, he didn't have to be the brave one in the relationship, he didn't have to be the one taking risks and taking care of the other.

Bryn seemed a lot like Jack in some respects.

But he was in a committed relationship with Jack now, as it seemed; Jack seemed much more determined to be loyal now, even though Ianto could see the tension between him and Donna, he could see that he was attracted to her. The irrational part of his brain argued that he could be attracted to someone else if Jack could be, but the rational part of his brain argued that it wasn't fair, not after Jack had given up so much for him.

Finally, Ianto sighed and got out the car, straightening his pristine jacket and walking sluggishly up the garden path.

Eventually, he stood outside the front door, prepping himself for knocking. He had no other options now, no more ways to put it off. He had to act like his normal self if he was ever gonna get a chance to sneak the retcon pill into her drink or whatever.

Ianto raised his fist to knock…

When a spaceship fell from the sky.

* * *

_Ugh, filler chapter, much?_

_…_

_wait, WHAT?? Spaceship fell from the sky? _

_IS THAT A TYPO??? –runs around in a circle screaming–_

_Oh wait. –stops running– _

_I planned this MUAHAHAHAHHAA!_

_I got inspired just now! –pets the plot bunnies…of DOOM~– _

_Haha._

_Well, we'll find out next time, won't we? _

_Hmm…I say I shall update at __**180**__ reviews :3 I think we can do it people!! _

_And it occurs to me I don't really say this much but THANK YOU for reviewing :) it really makes my day when you do, even if I don't say it as often as I should :) XD_

_Beth xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_


	17. Chapter 16

**Remembering**

Chapter 16

Ianto stared, open mouthed, as the spaceship plummeted down from the sky, landing with an almighty _crash _just behind Bryn's house, assumedly in her back garden.

What was _with _this woman and alien encounters?!

Ianto was momentarily stumped, wondering what to do – should he go in and make sure Bryn was okay, or run to the truck and fetch help?

Eventually, the latter option won out and he turned on his heel and ran to the truck, leaping inside and hastily grabbing his phone, trying to dial the Torchwood hub number but failing numerous times due to his shaky fingers.

He finally got the right number and was holding the phone to his ear when there was a knock on the glass window. Ianto snapped his head around to see Bryn peering in the window, looking wide-eyed and worried. Ianto quickly rolled down the window.

"Hi!" Bryn grinned, falsely cheery, "So, are you going to sit out here all day or…?"

Ianto responded by scrambling out the car, still clutching the phone to his ear as it rang.

"I'm just calling my team,"

Bryn didn't reply, just nodded eagerly, as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back again. He could tell she was in shock and was about to tell her to go have a cup of tea when Jack picked up.

"Jack. I need you here at Bryn's house," Ianto said, not giving his boss a chance to speak, "There's been another incident."

* * *

Ianto had finally coaxed Bryn into her house and poured her a cup of tea by the time the Torchwood team had arrived. He had only peeked outside, and could make out a small spaceship, about the size of a normal car, and could see smoke rising from what he could only presume was the engine.

Bryn had been worryingly quiet since they'd come in, and Ianto had a feeling that perhaps giving her a retcon would be best for her wellbeing – put her out of her misery. But when he stood over her cup of tea, pill in hand, he couldn't make himself do it and had simply put the pill back in his pocket.

A moment after he had heard the car pull up, Jack bustled in, followed by Mickey, Gwen and Martha – surprisingly, not Donna.

He had only spared one glance at the pair of them before leading the way outside; Martha and Mickey had muttered hasty greetings, before following their boss, but Gwen had stopped, asking Ianto what he'd seen.

"Not much," the Welshman responded, "Just the ship coming down."

"Okay, well," Gwen eyed Bryn up, "It's funny how all this stuff keeps happenin' to you, eh?"

Bryn shrugged, taking another deep drink of tea.

"Well, I'm sure this will be the last of it. I don't think anyone is interesting enough have more than this happening to them," Gwen told her with a smile and a giggle, before heading outside. Ianto gave a weak smile back, while Bryn just glared.

"She meant that kindly," he said as soon as his workmate was out of the room, "You are a very interesting person,"

Bryn eyed a stapler on her countertop interestedly, before saying in a quiet voice, "I wonder how many staples it would take to spell _'twat' _in her forehead…"

Even a gentleman like Ianto couldn't keep himself from guffawing loudly at that.

* * *

Jack stood by the door, admiring the ship before him.

It looked like quite the futuristic object, sleek and black with a lifting door and a tinted windscreen at the curved front, and a panel of dark glass on the door. It came to a point at the front but was wider at the back; the nose of the ship was rammed into the ground. A muddy track lay behind it from where it had skidded to a stop and the backend was off the ground at an angle.

"Well." Mickey said, "That's, err…"

"Interesting," Gwen finished, coming up to stand with Jack.

"First off," Jack said with a cough, "Gwen – I want you to run to the car and call the police; make sure there have been no reports of this and if there _have _been, wipe 'em. Mickey, check the engine, see if that was the cause for the crash, and then run your little tests and see if this baby fell through the rift.. Martha – with me. Let's see if anyone is in this thing."

"What about Ianto?" Martha asked, already snapping on some plastic gloves.

"Let him deal with the civilian," Jack threw over his shoulder, already on his way to the ship. As Mickey and Gwen ran about their respective jobs, Martha ran after Jack, who was already examining the door for a way to open it.

The ship, other than some scratches and a hole in the nose made by skidding through the dirt, was relatively undamaged. Mickey was examining the engines, which were exactly were Ianto had thought they were, and determined that the engines had failed during flight. Jack and Martha were then faced with the dilemma of figuring out how to open the door from outside.

"The thing about this pod," Mickey told them after checking it over quickly, "It was obviously built for protection; that door can only be opened from the inside."

"What if someone is hurt in there?" Martha asked.

"Well, you just have to hope they're not too hurt to open the door," he told them bluntly.

Jack suddenly smiled, "Or we could force our way in."

"…what?"

Jack reached into the toolbox Mickey had brought and suddenly pulled out, to Martha's dismay, a crowbar. She groaned loudly and muttered "Not the crowbar again!". Mickey just sighed and walked away to run his tests.

Jack spent the next five minutes trying to find the small gap in between the edge of the door and main body of the ship, but found it was too thin to wedge anything in-between – this ship really was fully protected.

"What now?" he complained, leaning against the ship's sleek side.

Martha rolled her eyes, "I cannot believe I'm about to say this…"

"I like where this is going."

"But we might have to smash the glass on the door,"

The look on Jack's face reminded her of a small child on Christmas morning – Martha had no idea Jack was so violent sometimes.

He stood up and threw off his heavy coat, shrugging it to the ground as he stretched out his arms before swinging the crowbar high. Martha covered her eyes as the crowbar swung down and hit the glass with an almighty _crash!_

Jack smiled smugly and put the crowbar down, proud of his work. Quickly, he reached in through the hole he'd made and scrambled around until he found the appropriate lever and pulled it, causing the door to swing open.

The ship inside looked much like the kind humans imagined and were seen in sci-fi movies – there was a plush red seat in the centre, surrounded by a panel filled with buttons and levers. The chair lay directly under the door, so you could jump in and immediately be on your seat, and Jack saw a woman sitting in the chair, her head slumped forward and her long blonde hair hiding her face – he noticed the only thing keeping her upright was a seatbelt.

_At least she has sense_, he thought as he reached down and unbuckled the belt, before grabbing the woman firmly under her arms, and pulling her out with a grunt, out onto the grass.

As she moved, her hair fell away from her face, revealing her to be barely more than a girl – she had pretty features, with a sweet pointed nose and pink lips, slightly ajar; he noticed she had the bruise over her nose where she must have hit it on something as she crashed, as well as an older bruise on her jaw line which probably came from a previous incident. There was quite a gash just above one of her eyebrows, and the side of her face had bright red blood trickling down it. She was a skinny lass, wearing a green t-shirt and leather trousers, cadet boots on her feet.

"Oh my _God_!"

Jack looked up to see Martha, eyes wide and hand over her mouth.

"I know, she's not in the best shape," Jack agreed, confused, "But nothing you haven't seen before."

"No, no it's not…it's just…oh my—!"

"_Martha_! What _is _it?!"

"I know her! T-that's…that's _Jenny_!"

* * *

Donna leant against the bar on the balcony overlooking the medical bay at Jack and Martha examining the blonde girl they had brought in. They hadn't told her much, other than that this girl had been in a spaceship that had crashed.

Yeah, right.

Despite everything that had happened these past couple of weeks, Donna was still finding it hard to accept some of the things she was told, and, frankly, a spaceship seemed a little _too _out of it… but then again, she had seen numerous aliens and had had some weird experiences in this place, so why should a ship seem strangest of them all?

Jack glanced up at Donna, seeing her curious face, and swallowed awkwardly. Martha had filled him in on who this 'Jenny' was, and was worried now that her presence near Donna would set her off again – Donna had had enough bizarre experiences lately, in which she had fallen into almost trance-like state, and he didn't need an actual _person _from her past coming in and making that happen again, especially if this person didn't realise that Donna wouldn't remember them.

Martha continued to stitch up the gash on Jenny's forehead, even though they both knew it would probably heal instantly after she woke up. The bruise was going untreated for now, as was her split lip, and some x-rays had revealed a broken rib or two that should heal easily enough if the Time Lady was careful.

_Time Lady_… it felt weird saying that. Weird knowing that, finally, the Doctor wasn't the only Time Lord in the Universe. But, that said, Martha had pointed out what the Doctor had said, about Jenny being an 'echo'. It seemed the two hadn't exactly hit it off at first.

"Done." Martha said at last, snipping the thread used to stitch up the wound. Jack glanced at it.

"Looks good. Now, hopefully she'll wake up soon so she can tell us what happened,"

They both knew what he meant. He hoped she had been in contact with her father, even though Martha had explained that they all thought Jenny was dead.

"I dunno, Jack. I gave her enough morphine to keep her asleep for a while," Martha chuckled, coming around the table to stand beside Jack as she pulled off her plastic gloves.

"Right," she said under her breath to him, so Donna couldn't hear, "Are we telling her who this is? How they know each other?"

"Maybe that's not the best idea." Jack said just as quietly, "I don't think we need to unload much more onto her right now,"

"Well, she's not really making a lot of progress as it is, and not only do I know it, _she _knows it. And I think she's getting tired of it." Martha told him, "And anyway, you aren't even _doing _these little sessions; I am! Admit it, Jack, you're scared of being near her. When are you gonna tell me why?"

Jack swung his head around, mouth open and full of complaints to face her, but one look at her face told him that wasn't a good idea.

With a sigh, he turned away from her, ignoring her question, and headed towards the stairs when…

"Where am I?"

He swung around to see Jenny was slowly sitting up, frowning in confusion.

"What is this place?" she asked in a quiet voice, looking around.

Then her eyes found a familiar face, and a huge smile lit up her face, revealing pearly white teeth. Jack followed her gaze and felt his stomach flip over in worry.

"Donna!" Jenny exclaimed, "Oh, thank God, I _finally _found you again!"

* * *

Who guessed that it was Jenny? C'mon…couldn't have been that hard to guess! I think? I dunno… Lol :)

_That chapter wasn't *really* exciting, but, I swearz, it kicks off next chapter! __***huge grin***_

_And the next one will be up when I get to __**190**__ reviews. That's not too hard, but I've been feeling overly review-whore-y lately, and I was admonished about it by two friends haha xD_

_Review! xx_

Disclaimer: I own…nothing. *iz a hobo LOL*


	18. Chapter 17

**Remembering**

Chapter 17

Donna's eyes widened to the size of saucers when the blonde stranger named her, and she pushed herself off the railings, staring down at her. The young woman was struggling off the bed, yanking off the wires connected to her body in her haste, but when she was finally on her feet, she exclaimed and doubled over, clutching her side.

Jack darted forward to catch Jenny, while Martha exclaimed, "_Careful_; her ribs!"

"Martha!" Jenny breathed, her hands covering her mouth as Jack held her. Slowly, she removed them and outstretched them towards the doctor, her mouth splitting into a grin and her hands reaching towards her old friend. She reminded Donna of a child, so small and happy. Martha moved quickly, stepping into Jenny's arms and hugging her as tightly as she dared while Jack stepped away, walking towards the stairs.

"I'm so glad to see you," Jenny whispered into Martha's shoulders, sounding choked up, "I thought I'd never see you – _any _of you – again!"

Donna blinked and smiled slightly at the sweet scene, before she felt a heavy hand on her arm, and turned to see an anxious looking Jack beside her, attempting to tug her away.

"Come with me." he commanded quietly. Donna hesitated, frowning quietly.

"W-why…?"

"Just…_c'mon_!" the American said gruffly, giving her arm a gentle pull. Donna finally relented, allowing him to start leading her away.

"_Wait_, no!"

They both turned back to see Jenny had separated from Martha and was practically hurtling herself up the stairs towards Donna, and Jack noted that she was already moving better, as if her ribs were much better.

"Donna!" Jenny breathed, stopping suddenly at the top of the stairs, "It's so good to _see _you!"

With that, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Donna, and she automatically reciprocated, but Jenny could feel it was colder and less familiar than the other times they'd hugged. Frowning she pulled away, looking up at the woman she considered the closest thing to a mother.

"Donna?" she repeated, still smiling hopefully, "It's…it's _me_."

Donna scowled slightly, licking her lips unsurely, before saying quietly, "But…_who_ are you?"

The minute she'd said that, Donna wished she hadn't; the blonde girl's face fell, her smile gone and her warm eyes shocked and hurt. Her hands fell away from Donna's arms, coming up to twist at chest level.

"Donna…" she breathed, eyes wide, "You _must _remember me."

Donna shook her head regretfully, "I'm sorry. I don't. I've been having some…memory troubles."

"'_Memory troubles'_?" Jenny repeated, eyes widening, "But…we were so _close_! You were all but my mother!"

Donna's mouth fell open in surprise, but before she could respond, Jack stepped around the redhead, and took Jenny's arms, almost dragging her towards his office. Jenny struggled fruitlessly, throwing worried and pleading looks back at Donna, who watched helplessly. Martha quickly ran up the stairs and gave Donna a reassuring glance before following her boss.

When she entered the office, she found Jenny sat down on Donna's bed with Jack pacing in front of her, midway through his speech.

"…and we don't know what happened to her, but she's alone back on Earth, unprotected, completely unaware of the events of her months with the Doctor, and, speaking of the Doctor, he has vanished off the face of the _Universe_! We don't know if he's alive or dead, or if Donna is in danger, and _you_ – supposedly the son of the Doctor, the smartest man I ever met – just march in here demanding she remember every fact about you!" Jack seethed, clearly furious.

"How was I to know?" Jenny demanded, red with embarrassment and anger.

"You could've had a little more sense – _class_."

"Jack." Martha interrupted smoothly, taking hold of her boss, "She wasn't to know. Leave her alone."

Jack scowled and stepped back slightly, as if in defeat.

"Yes, _Captain_," Jenny spat, "Why don't you listen to those _clearly_ better than you?!"

Martha saw Jack turn several shades of red in absolute _fury_, before he lunged forward as if he had mind to slaughter the Time Lady through all her regenerations if it were not for Martha's steely hand gripping his collar, pulling him back.

"Out." Martha commanded, shoving him roughly towards the door, "Go check on Donna. Go make some coffee. Go shag Ianto. Just…_get out_!"

He stared at her, eyes wide. Martha arched an eyebrow frostily, as if to say _'You'd better listen…'_

Jack, a wise man from his many years, knew better than to argue. Throwing a contemptuous look around the room, he stormed out, bristling with anger when he heard Martha swiftly slam the door behind him.

He marched firmly back into the hub, stopping automatically upon seeing Donna sitting on Gwen's chair, legs crossed and one hand brought to her mouth as she worried at the skin on her finger. Immediately, he felt his anger drain away, to absorbed by her to think about anything else in his life.

Quickly, he caught himself, ceasing these traitorous thoughts - he was Captain Jack Harkness, damnit! Sure, he'd been with a lot of women in his life, and he had _never_ allowed himself to fall too far for any one of them. He hadn't even been in that romantic a situation with Donna Noble, and yet his stomach flipped over whenever he laid eyes on her, and his heart rate would increase.

What was _wrong _with him?

Jack swallowed thickly, before allowing himself to move further into the room, until Donna noticed him and leapt to her feet, stepping towards him.

"Jack!" she exclaimed, "What's going on? Who _is _that girl? Tell me, Jack, I need some answers—"

She stopped short when Jack continued walking towards her, only stopping when there was barely a centimetre between them. She stared up at him, blue eyes wide; what was he doing _this _time? Hadn't he jerked her around enough already? Every time Jack did this to her and every time he backed away at the last minute, choosing to do right by Ianto instead of her.

But she didn't voice any of these objections, or tell him it wasn't fair; would _you_ if you had a man like Jack Harkness standing in such a close proximity?

Jack lifted a hand hesitantly, biting unsurely down on his lower lip – and he noticed her eyes flicker to his mouth and heard a quiet inhalation of breath – before he reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek.

"What would you say…" Jack began, his voice quiet and slightly husky, "If I kissed you now?"

Donna looked him in the eye, her blue eyes wide and innocent. She remained silent, and Jack slightly inclined his head towards hers, about to kiss her.

"I'd be very confused." she suddenly said, her breath ghosting over his mouth. Jack paused, his eyes half closed but alert.

"Because this isn't the first time you've done this," Donna continued, eyes flickering over his face, "And I don't think I can deal with more rejection,"

Jack remained where he was, his brow furrowing slightly as if in deep thought.

"Last time…you left me for someone else. Can you be _sure _that if you do this, you won't run back to him?"

Jack was silent and still for so long that Donna wondered if he was really going to kiss her, and not leave for Ianto again. And then he let her go, and stepping back, even though the remorse and anguish showed as clearly on his face as the rejection, hurt and slightly jealously showed on hers.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, sounding pained. Forcing herself to look indifferent, Donna nodded, and turned away slightly; Jack took this as his dismissal and sighed, turning and heading back up to his office in hopes of reconciliation with Martha.

Donna watched him leave out of the corner of her eye, and once he was gone, let out a shaky breath, pressing her hand to her forehead.

She was tired of this. This life, this strange new place, and especially Jack, _Jack_…with his teasing, scandalous, gorgeous ways that made her just fall even more for him. She wasn't as terrified to admit it as he was.

She understood that he felt he had an obligation to Ianto, but if he _felt _that, he shouldn't jerk her around as he had been – it wasn't fair to her, Jack, or Ianto. Especially not Ianto, and was so nice and a lovely bloke who only deserved the best of treatment.

Donna sighed wearily. She was just…_tired_. She didn't want to hear more of this farce about aliens, and time travel and this Doctor. She wanted to go home, back to Chiswick. As boring as her lifestyle was, at least it wasn't confusing and possible fraught with danger!

Donna's thoughts were interrupted by a _ding _from her pocket, and she reached into her pocket to produce her mobile phone, and flipping it open, discovered a text from her granddad, once again attempting to use text talk.

_Ur mum is meetin Wednes. gurls for drinks 2nite, so heres a quik msg to update u on us! Docs gt me on new diet, no fish&chips! Ur mum is bein very stern on that :( lol! Shes missin you, and I am 2! Hope Cardiff is gd – love you, Gramps x_

Donna chuckled at this silly attempt at phone talk, and even she heard how strained her laughter sounded. Suddenly, she knew what she wanted to do.

It was time to leave Torchwood and go home.

* * *

_DUNDUNDUN!!_

_Oh noes! :O _

_Sorry for a long wait, but here it is ^^ aha _

_Please review!!_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sigh.


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N:** See A/N at the bottom for begging apologies and squee-fulness :)

Oh, and btw - yes, name-change! From _See You On Broadway. _to _I Heart Greg Sanders _in honour of the BEST character from "CSI: Las Vegas" :) teh prettiful Greg Sanders (L)

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 18

Ianto stared into the hub, still cowering slightly behind the door leading from the Tourist Office entrance, and he watched as Donna sighed, put her phone away, and left the hub. The scene before him had both been painful, and disappointing.

The image of Jack so close to Donna, his lips millimetres away from hers, whispering to her like a lover was burned in his image, and it felt like his heart was breaking into a million pieces and his stomach had dropped to his feet. Even so, it was not as bad as it would have been even two months ago. He couldn't decide if his feelings for Jack had lessened, or if he had somehow come to accept the growing feelings between Jack and Donna, but either way, he didn't mind as much.

Especially now there was Bryn.

Suddenly hit with a wave of guilt at that thought, he finally stepped into the hub and busied himself cleaning up Mickey's unorganized desk. Unfortunately, the task wasn't enough to keep his thoughts straying to the apparent love triangle forming within their team. It was another Gwen-Owen-Tosh thing…

Ianto's hands suddenly still at the thought of his two deceased friends and he let out a shaky sigh, shaking his head. How he missed those two! Tosh had always been his confident, another person in his position – clever, shy, and slightly unsure about her position in the team. And Owen had always been some comic relief in the toughest situations, right up to his end and even after.

But, they wouldn't want him to stay in the past like this, and right now, Jack and Donna were dancing around their future. The scene earlier had been disappointing because the two of them had been tiptoeing around their obvious attraction for weeks now, and to see Jack wimp out at the last minute _again_ because of him… and seeing the look on her face when he left her once again…

Ianto groaned, and sat with a soft thump on Mickey's chair, burying his head in his hands. Jack kept backing away because of _guilt_ – he felt guilty because of what he and Ianto had. Well, the last thing Ianto wanted – no, the last thing Ianto _deserved _was to only have Jack because he felt guilty!

"Ianto?"

Ianto practically leapt to his feet at the sound of his name, nearly knocking over Donna in the meantime.

"Steady on there!" Donna exclaimed, only just leaping out of Ianto's way, "You were in a world of your own, there!"

Ianto nodded in agreement, clearing his throat and straightening his tie awkwardly, "Yeah, well…I just have some, erm, things on my mind,"

Donna shrugged and turned away, seemingly taking this as a fine excuse. Ianto sighed in relief and smiled at her departing back.

"Can I get you something?" he offered, "Coffee, tea?"

The redhead turned back to him, frowning as if she hadn't realised he was there, "Uh…erm, no, thank you, Ianto,"

Ianto kept his eyes on her for a while, his smile fading as he studied her downcast face and the faraway look in her eyes. Her shoulders sagged as if she was defeated.

_Jack._

"Donna, is—?"

"Yes, there is something wrong," she replied automatically, her voice monotone, "But there is nothing you can do…sorry."

"What will help you, then?" Ianto demanded, stepping forward involuntarily in an attempt to stop her leaving again. Despite their feelings for the same man, he _did _like her a lot and knew she had been through an ordeal.

Donna smiled at his kindness, before replying, "Chiswick,"

"What?"

"Ianto, I'm going home," she clarified, "I think I'm done here,"

Ianto was sure his heart missed a beat. She was _leaving_?! But they needed her – they needed her to remember and tell them where the Doctor is, so he could decipher the mysterious signal and make sure the world wasn't in immediate danger. Jack had made this decidedly clear when they brought her in, and now _he _had screwed it all up!

"But you can't!" he blurted, bordering on desperate, "We need you, Donna!"

"No, you don't. I have been absolutely _no _use at all, and you know it, Ianto. You really don't need me…nobody does," Donna said, her voice tinged with sadness, "So, I'm going to get out of here. Do me a favour, Yan?"

Ianto swallowed thickly at her use of a familiar nickname, and although he _knew _she was only using it to butter him up, he nodded at her to continue.

"Give me five minutes' head-start," she smiled, "So I can get out before Ja—… before anyone comes to find me,"

And then she was gone, in a swirl of red hair. Ianto stared dumbly after her, suddenly unsure of what to do. He knew Jack, Martha and Jenny were upstairs in the briefing room, and were probably the last people Donna would want to speak to. He knew Gwen had a day off with her husband right now, and was probably the most logical person to have talk some sense into their guest. And he also knew Mickey was out doing the lunch run, but he was very little use right now.

It turned out, he dithered too long, as suddenly the cog wheel opened and Gwen came rushing in, running right up to him and practically leaping into his arms, hugging him tightly and almost knocking him off his feet.

"_Gwen_!" Ianto exclaimed, "Thank God you're here, I have—"

"I have something to tell you too!" Gwen squealed, effectively cutting him off, "I'm pregnant!"

Momentarily, Ianto forgot all about Donna, "_What_?!"

"I'm pregnant! Like, with a baby!" Gwen exclaimed, stepping away from him and flapping her hands around, "I'd been feeling ill for this past couple o' mornings, and I've missed me monthlies recently…"

Despite being a very polite man, Ianto couldn't help reddening slightly at this comment, but Gwen didn't seem to notice.

"So, I woke up this mornin' after a nice lie-in and Rhys had made me breakfast in bed – the full works; eggs, bacon, toast, beans – and right next to the juice was this home pregnancy test. I took it and, well…"

Gwen trailed off, catching her breath, and Ianto smiled at her, glad she had decided he was smart enough to guess the end of this story.

"Well, congratulations!" he told her, "It'll be nice to have a little one around here, I'm sure,"

Gwen suddenly blanched, her mouth falling open and her hands clenching into fists above her heart, "Oh my God…how am I going to deal with a baby and this job? I can hardly bring it to work…!"

Ianto was content to listen to her blathering about the baby, when he saw Donna moving around in Jack's office, and his current dilemma came soaring back to him.

"Gwen, we have a problem _here_," he said, raising his hands to shush her. Gwen frowned.

"What is it, Yan?" she asked, concerned.

"It's Donna."

Gwen's face fell, "Oh no, Jack's been jerking that poor lass around again, hasn't he?"

Ianto nodded, "To the extent that she wants to leave."

"_What_?! But she can't! We need her!"

"Exactly what I said," Ianto grumbled, "But, what can we do?"

They were pensive for a moment, before Gwen grabbed his arm and said, "Okay, I'll go and get Jack. You try and stall her if she comes out, okay?"

Ianto opened his mouth to argue, but Gwen was already shooting off, darting up the stairs. Ianto wondered belatedly if such speed was healthy for a pregnant woman, when Donna suddenly reappeared.

"Was that Gwen I saw?" she asked, frowning. Ianto didn't answer, his gaze landing on the bag in Donna's hand.

"How're you gonna get back?" he asked the first thing that came to mind. Donna shrugged.

"Train, I suppose," she eventually decided, "I have some money,"

Then, she started heading towards the door, but Ianto stepped in front of her.

"A-are you sure?" he stammered, improvising, "I could come with you. Buy you a ticket,"

Donna chuckled, "I'm all for chivalry, thanks, Ianto, but I'm okay,"

"You sure?" Ianto demanded, grabbing her arm to keep her from moving, "I mean, you have been such a help to us, I could at _least_…"

"Ianto." Donna growled threateningly, arching a brow. Ianto dithered a little longer, before releasing her.

She opened her mouth to say something, when there was a clatter on the landing above them, and a familiar American voice called out, "_Donna_!"

Donna spun around to see Jack catapulting down the stairs, and growled some unladylike comments under her breath. Ianto pretended not to have heard, stepping aside as she began to push forward.

"Donna, don't you _dare _go!" Jack exclaimed, chasing after her. He was closely followed by Jenny, Martha and Gwen.

"Why not?" Donna snapped, continuing to barrel forward; Jack followed, "What use have I been? I just wanna go home…"

"_We need you_!"

"You do not! I have done nothing but cause trouble for you lot, and you have tried to fill my head with these frivolous fantasies! And, God, Jack Harkness…" Donna let out a humourless cackle, throwing her free hand in the air, "You have been the _worst _of the lot! Torchwood does not need _me_…"

Jack suddenly lunged forward and caught her arm, spinning her around and pulling him right up close to her so their faces were millimetres apart.

"Fine!" he growled, "Don't stay because _we _need you, stay because _I _need you!"

Donna's face flushed with rage, "You don't need me, silly man! You just need your stories, your gun, and your tea boy!"

Ianto blushed slightly at this, tugging at his collar. Jack's grip on Donna's wrist tightened.

"There are no stories," he said in a voice that was barely a whisper, so that only Donna could hear, "Only the truth, Donna Noble. And the last time I met you, you would have believed it because you were _living _it. Travelling through time and space. You may think you're nothing, Donna Noble, but you are _everything_!"

Donna stared meekly up at him, "To you?"

Jack nodded, breathing heavily, "To me."

And then her gaze turned defiant, and she tried to pull away from him, "Then _why _did you jerk me around like a rag doll only to rush off and play naked hide and seek with someone else? If I mean that much, _why _did you make me think I had a shot?"

Jack winced at her words, his heart dropping at the truth and pain behind them. He had been cruel to her and he should let her walk away, but that's easier said than done, and now that he _was _facing losing her, he found he couldn't let her go.

Donna took his silence and the sudden loosening of his grip as yet another rejection, so, pulling her hand back like it burnt, she turned back to the door.

"Donna, _please_," Jack whispered, his voice pleading, "We need you. _I _need you. But most importantly, the Doctor might need you,"

Donna scoffed and made as if to leave, but at the mention of this Doctor, her head felt suddenly heavy and she drew to a stop. Her lungs seemed suddenly devoid of air, and she inhaled sharply, pressing one hand to her chest as she did so. No matter what, though, she couldn't get enough oxygen, and her head started to swim.

Fuzzy images flashed in her mind; blinking stars, bizarre grey marshmallows, a blue box, a tall lanky man, and fire. Lots of fire. Scorching through the sky.

She felt heat spread through her entire body, from her head, to her very toes, and heard a thump as her bag fell to the floor.

_No_, she thought, struggling against the fog in her mind, _You've got to go and leave this all behind. _

Her hand pressed tighter to her chest, and she was suddenly aware of the rapid fluttering of her heart against her palm – it was going fast. _Way _too fast.

She was aware of an arm wrapping around her waist, and a soft American voice whispering her name, but she could barely hear.

_I've got to go…_

Then a kind voice broke loud and clear through the mist of her mind, the only coherent thing she could recognize, _No, young one. It isn't time to go. You must stay, until you are ready._

Donna gasped loudly at this strange voice, air finally filling her deprived lungs.

_Ready for what?_

The voice spoke as if it was smiling, _Sleep now, young one. Sleep will bring the conclusion faster._

And then, Donna Noble's world went black, as she slumped unconscious into Jack's arms.

* * *

_I am so sorry for the lousy updating._

_I fail at life -___- I have just been mega busy at school lately! This is an important year for me :) ughh, I can't wait til my next break. I need SLEEP! _

_Anyway, this chapter was 6 pages long, so I hope it made up for the break ^^ you're in luck; last night, I was the trailer for the Christmas 2009 special and it looks BITCHIN'! I am not even kidding! I saw the Master, and Wilfred, and __**DONNA**__! I squealed so much, and I am totally inspired now! 8D _

_And I also saw a clip from the San Diego comic con. today, in which John Barrowman and David Tennant kiss. One incoherent word – guh. :O_


	20. Chapter 19

_Wha…wha…what's this? Is this an old fanfiction story I see before me, covered in dust? Why, it must not have been touched in decades! *rubs dust from front page* "Remembering", by I Heart Greg Sanders… oh no, it's by LimitedByCreativity, my bad. Well, this seems to ring a bell…_

_Wait…_

_Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyy Goooooooooooooooood... _

_HOW HAS IT BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE UPDATED THIS!? Why am I so useless?!_

_A thousand and twenty apologies, my dear readers! I have been absolutely swamped with work lately, and I found myself with nooo writing time. I'm barely even on anymore.. ain't that sad? :(_

_Luckily for all of us, 'tis the Christmas Holz now! And you can all sit back and relax, while I work my arse off to be a better updater!! Dx _

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, David Tennant would not be leaving the set…EVER. *wields chains*

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 19

Jack stared down at the unconscious Donna, his eyes wide and mouth open.

"Oh my God!" Jenny exclaimed, leaping forward as if to rush to Donna's side, before frog hopping back, clearly unsure about where she stood with Jack.

"Is she okay?" Ianto demanded, dropping to his knees beside Jack and taking Donna's hand, patting it worriedly.

"D-Donna?" Jack breathed, lowering his mouth to her ear, "C'mon, babe, you've gotta wake up now. Speak to me, doll!"

He added emphasis to his pleads by giving the redhead a shake, but to no avail. Donna remained unconscious. Suddenly remembering her past episodes, Jack carefully raised one hand to her head, pushing back her fringe and feeling her forehead.

It was hot. Boiling hot. Impossibly, inhumanly hot.

"Jesus Christ!" Jack cursed aloud, getting to his feet and cradling Donna against his chest, one arm around her back and the other lifting under her knees, "We need to get her to the med bay!"

He looked around for Martha, and noticed the pretty doctor was already halfway down the stairs to the hospital bay, snapping on a pair of plastic gloves in the meantime. Jack followed quickly, his heart thudding wildly in his chest. What if something was happening to her? What if she was dying in his arms, and they could do nothing to prevent it? No, no, no, _no_. He was not going to let that happen!

"Jack!" Martha barked, snapping him out of his reverie. He leapt down the last two steps and rushed into the circular area, laying Donna tenderly down on the gurney. Martha began attaching Donna to various machines, while Jack waited impatiently.

"Jack!" Ianto called from above them, "Come up here; I have something you need to see."

"No! Deal with it."

Martha looked fleetingly at her boss, "Go see what Yan wants, I'm fine here,"

"I'm not leaving her," came the response.

"Well, you're just getting in my way here!" Martha snapped, moving round to his side and bustling him out the way, "So either leave, or get stabbed with an IV,"

Although Jack had been stabbed with an IV before, and found it a not altogether awful experience, he decided an angry Martha was probably a force to be reckoned with, so he stole up the stairs, looking back every so often to see Donna.

She was a splash of colour in the otherwise white room, her red hair like a halo around her flushed face. The heart monitor had been attacked to her and he could hear that the beeps were far too fast, barely a millisecond between each one. From a distance, he could still see that her chest was rising abnormally quickly, and could hear her laboured breaths as her oxygen tried to keep up with her erratic pulse.

He had just made the decision to run back to her, when Gwen appeared beside him, grabbing his sleeve and tugging him over to where Ianto and Jenny sat by a monitor. Upon seeing him, Jenny leapt up, offering him her seat which he took without a backwards glance.

"What?" he snapped sharply, glaring at Ianto. Without blinking an eyelid at his boss slash lover's cross tone, Ianto pressed a button on the keyboard, and the undecipherable signal came through the speakers, much louder than ever before.

"Turn down the volume," Jack commanded.

"We have." came Ianto's monotone response, "The volume is barely at ten points. The sound is just much closer."

Jack looked up at the tea boy, eyes widening slowly, "How much closer?"

Ianto cleared his throat, tapping another button on the screen. A black box appeared, with loads of numbers and other signs appearing in rapid succession as it calculated how far away the ship was.

"Taking into account the speed we believe the signal is moving, as well as giving for accelerations and deceleration…" Ianto narrated, "The signal, and whatever is carrying the signal, should reach Earth in approximately…"

The mathematical equations finally stopped; instead, red block letters flashed on the screen. Jack felt his blood run cold.

"Five days," Ianto read, his voice weak. Jenny exhaled behind Jack, feeling a shiver go up her spine. Gwen bit down on her lip, her hands clasping to her stomach protectively.

"We're running out of time," Jack breathed, after a moment of stiff silence, "This signal is getting closer, and we don't know if it has harmful intent or not."

"They could be planning to destroy the world," Gwen mumbled, "Kill us all,"

There was another awkward silence, as all four people tried to think of something to do, before Jack once again broke the silence.

"We're screwed," he mumbled pathetically, dropping his head, "We don't know anything! How can we help? We don't know if these are good aliens, or bad aliens. We don't know what kind of species they are, whether they come in piece or intend to destroy us, and how, _how_ are we going to find all that out in five bloody days, without the Doctor, or Donna, or –"

"Six billion people on planet Earth," Jenny interrupted suddenly, her voice strong, "Most of whom have no idea about the horrors in the sky, waiting to attack. We have a duty to try and save them, no matter what resources or knowledge we lack!"

"You sound more like your father than ever," Jack said humourlessly, leaning back in his chair.

"_Captain_." Jenny seethed, "Think about people you know. People you once knew. People you will know. Those people are not going to die because you gave up. They have a life to live. Think about Martha – she's getting _married_! Think about Donna, who still has dreams to follow! Think about Gwen – _Gwen_, for God's sake, who's going to have a baby soon!"

"What?!" Jack exclaimed, head snapping up.

"What?!" Gwen cried, her head snapping to look at Jenny, "How do you know that?"

Jenny cocked her head, nose twitching, "You just…_smell_…pregnant."

Gwen's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what pregnant smelt like, when she felt Jack taking her hand.

"You're pregnant?" he whispered. Gwen looked down at him, and, after a moment, nodded.

"Yeah. I am,"

Jack looked from his pregnant co-worker, to Jenny, to Ianto, and then over towards the med bay, and his eyes steeled with determination.

"Jenny, Jenny, my dear…" he said, slowly getting to his feet, "You are absolutely right."

"I am? I mean, damn right I am!"

"I can't give up!" Jack continued, as if Jenny hadn't spoken, "There are millions of lives possibly at stake, and one is hanging in the balance right now. We just need to use what resources we have. Like Donna, when she gets better..." _and she WILL get better!_ "...and, like _you_."

Jenny's blue orbs widened to the size of saucers, "_Me_?"

"Yes, you! Jenny, you're a Time Lord. You have the same great mind your dad has, and I'm so stupid for not realising you have his powers!"

Jenny opened her mouth to respond, but Jack cut her off by grabbing her wrist and tugging her over towards the med bay, and down the spiralling steps. Martha looked up at them as they came down.

"Her heart is going at a crazy rate. A _deadly_ rate!" she told her boss, "And a temperature is soaring. It's at four hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit now…Jack, she's burning up! I don't know how she's still alive."

Jack could see Martha panicking, and there were tears in the young medic's eyes. Without a word, he took Martha's hand and gently pulled her back to him, meanwhile propelling Jenny forward.

"_What_ am I meant to be doing?" Jenny demanded, looking confused.

"Use your Time Lord powers." Jack instructed, "Like the Doctor does!"

"But I don't know _how _to!!"

Martha sighed, wiping at her face furiously, "Just do what comes naturally, Jen,"

Jenny dithered for a few moments more, looking from Martha, up to Ianto and Gwen, and back to Jack. Finally, she turned her head towards Donna and exhaled heavily, before moving to stand behind Donna's head. Wordlessly, she placed a hand either side of Donna's face, and closed her eyes.

* * *

_TBC… _

_Wow, I wonder what Jenny's going to see in that mind, eh? ;) bahahaha.. well, I know!_

_Again, apologies for such slow updating.. I promise, now I know where I'm headed, I'll update faster._

_Review plz! x_


	21. Chapter 20

_So…what did everybody think of David Tennant's send-off? I, obviously, cried like a baby when he __says "I don't want to go!", but on reflection, despite the beauty of his regeneration and stuff, the only things I liked about the episode were a) his last meeting with Rose, b) David and Bernard Cribbin's (Wilf) amazing, fantastic acting, c) Matt Smith at the end :D and d) the Doctor calling Donna his best friend (LL)_

_Other than that it was a bit of a let down for me :( for a start, DONNA WAS SEVERELY UNDERUSED. *spazs* oh, and the Doctor died alone. Which sucks badly. Ok, from now on, I only accept THIS story as fact!! XD which is why I suddenly feel so inspired to write it *hugs*_

_So, what was everybody else's opinion? I've changed my poll to ask :D also feel free to comment in…REVIEWS ;D;D;D_

_OH AND HAPPY 2010!_

Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, Donna would have gotten a hell of a lot more screen time in "The End Of Time". Plus, she would have remembered. Plus, we'd get to see Rose and the Clone!Doctor. And David Tennant wouldn't have left. And Bernard Cribbins would be God.

* * *

**Remembering  
**Chapter 20

Jenny felt… ridiculous.

Jack had told her to do what came naturally and, well…this was it. Attaching her hands to either side of Donna's head and closing her eyes. What did she expect to happen? Still, it was too late now – she had to keep up appearences.

Then, behind her closed eyes, Jenny saw a light. Frowning slightly, she tried to open her eyes, but found she couldn't. The light got bigger, and brighter, and suddenly, she could feel she was in Donna's mind. It had _worked_.

Despite her eyes still being shut, Jenny could _see_. She could see she was in a white room, and there were doors in front of her. Mentally, she moved to open one of the doors – inside, she found what looked like an old movie; a small, redheaded child was running around a park, giggling and squealing as she was chased by an old man, with dark hair streaked with gray, and kind blue eyes that were sparkling with love for this child. He eventually managed to catch the little girl and was swinging her around, laughing as she screamed _"Gramps, put me down!"_.

Jenny stepped away from the door, and moved to the next one. Behind this barrier, there was a redheaded teenage girl, presumably the girl from the other door, grown up, and she was arguing with a tall, formidable blonde lady. A man with the same red hair sat at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper and ignoring the women in his life.

_"I don't want to stay on at school!" _the girl was shouting, _"I'm 16, I can do what I bloody well like!"_

_"I am your mother!"_ came the older woman's response, _"And you will do what I say! You're going to do your A-Levels, go onto university and get yourself a proper job."_

_ "Alicia Medlem isn't staying on! She's leaving now and gettin' a job at Forrest's Secretarial Agency…"_

_ "Is that what you want to wind up as, Donna? A _temp_?!" _

Jenny quickly left this memory, afraid of delving further into Donna's old memories. She jogged along the row of doors, eventually getting to the end. She eyed up the last door, which for some reason was a different colour to the rest – it was gold, and was glowing with an energy that seemed strangely familiar.

She reached for it and attempted to open it – it didn't budge. She tugged as hard as she could, but nothing was opening that door. Who knew what memories could be lying under there? Important ones, perhaps, that Jack would want to know about. Jenny pressed herself up against the barrier and put her ear to the door, hoping to hear something. It was only then she realised the door was hot, as if the other side was burning. Jenny leapt back, clutching her burnt hand to her chest.

"Jenny."

The voice made Jenny jump about a foot in the air, but when she swung around, there was nobody behind her, or in the vicinity of her.

"Jenny. You won't be able to see me, so stop spinning around."

Finally, the young Time Lord stopped, instead choosing to stand awkwardly still.

"Who are you?" she asked, unsure of what else to stay.

"I'm here to watch over Donna, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, you, and all else the Doctor is connected to," the mysterious voice replied, its soothing voice making Jenny feel suddenly tired, "You must leave Donna Noble's mind soon; the first mental connection is rough on a young Time Lady,"

"How did you know?" Jenny exclaimed. The voice tutted.

"I'm connected to you, remember? Through your father," it told her, "But first, I need to tell you the story of Donna Noble and her last adventure, and you must keep it to yourself. Torchwood may think it's top secret, but all walls have ears."

"Wait…" Jenny cut off the voice, shaking her head to clear it, "Why do you need to tell me? Why not go tell Jack, if you're connected to us all?"

"Because, you are the only person who can _protect _Donna," the voice exclaimed, "And her life is in more danger now then it ever has been, or ever will be."

Jenny was silent a moment, worried about the life of the woman she considered a mother. Finally, she uttered in a tiny voice, "Tell me everything."

* * *

Jack sat on the gurney beside Donna's, eyes fixated on Jenny; the young girl had been connected to the redhead for almost forty-five minutes now, far longer than the Doctor had ever done this for. He had to admit, he was feeling pretty anxious. He was so absorbed in watching the two girls that when Martha walked up to him, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, he jumped so much he nearly fell off the bed.

"Whoa!" Martha cried, grabbing onto Jack's hand and pulling him straight again, "You need to calm down there, boy!"

Jack glanced witheringly at her and turned away, his eyes returning to the other bed. Martha sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Can I get you something?" she asked, desperate to just make Jack _smile_. Or do anything other than what he was.

"No." came the short reply, "I'm good."

Martha sighed and turned away, running out of the med bay and walking straight up to Jack's office where the other team members were situated. Gwen sat on Jack's spinny chair, feet propped up on the desk and hands clasped over her stomach. Ianto sat on the desk beside her feet.

"You okay here?" she asked, smiling falsely. Ianto didn't look up, too engrossed in the floor. Gwen shook her head.

"I'm feeling nauseous," she complained, "And my back and feet are _achin'_. Any prognosis, doc?"

Martha laughed, patting Gwen's shin, "Gwen, you're eight weeks pregnant. These are just symptoms, and, believe me, it's just going to get worse,"

"Great."

Martha laughed again and went to sit on the sofa, beside Mickey. The young man grinned up at her and patted her knee.

"You alright there, sugar?" he asked. Martha nodded.

"Yeah. I'm just worried about Jack…"

"How come?"

"Because he's almost _sick _with worry about Donna!"

"Wow. The worry cycle, eh? Is that medical?" Mickey teased his colleague. Martha rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. She was about to respond when Gwen suddenly lurched in her seat, kicking her feet off the table and standing up.

"Oh _God_!" she groaned, darting out the room with her hand clutched over her mouth. Ianto followed, his face twisted in concern, and left Mickey and Martha alone.

After a moment of silence, Mickey cleared his throat and asked, "So, how's it going with Tom, hmm?"

Martha rolled her eyes again, "Oh, don't _ask_. He's in Kenya right now, doing missionary work or something, and I haven't spoken to him in ages, which is annoying because his grandmother has been trying to RSVP to the wedding for _weeks_, but she needs to speak to Tom about flights and accomidation because I'm awful at that stuff. This whole wedding thing is just…it's insane. And the ceremony is in three _weeks_. Why he chose now to go on this trip, I will never know!"

Mickey chuckled, shaking his head. Martha arched a brow, "Well? What about you? Any love troubles?"

"Naah, not here," Mickey grinned, "I don't think I've had a serious girlfriend since…well…"

Mickey trailed off and Martha fell silent, realising how tough it was for him to talk about Rose. She knew that somewhere, deep down, he still felt something for her.

"Hey," she said eventually, "You'll meet someone incredible one day, I _promise_. Somebody who'll love you as much as you love them,"

Martha reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Mickey smiled and lifted his hand, placing it over hers.

"What if…" he asked slowly, "What if I've already met her?"

Martha frowned, confused. Mickey lifted his gaze and met her eyes, and they told her all she needed to know. She inhaled sharply, lifting her hand to pull away but before she could, he had grabbed her fingers and yanked her to him, crushing his lips against hers.

And it was all _wrong_.

"No, Mickey!" Martha exclaimed, pushing him away and staggering to her feet, "T-this…it's all…oh, God!"

Without giving him a chance to explain, Martha turned and headed for the door, swinging it open to find herself face-to-face with Ianto Jones.

"Jenny's back," he told her. Martha's eyes widened and she bolted past him, running towards the medical bay and leaving Mickey wondering if he'd just made the worst mistake of his life.

* * *

Jenny sat on a stool beside Donna's bed, one hand resting over one of Donna's and the other one stroking the redhead's hair. Jack was standing at the foot of the gurney, looking anxious, and he smiled slightly when Martha arrived beside him.

"Well?" she asked, practically bouncing. Jack shrugged, "Jenny was waiting for you,"

Finally, the blonde looked up, smiling away although Martha thought she saw her eyes glistening with tears.

"She's fine." Jenny whispered, "Just let her rest. Let her heal,"

Then, the Time Lady turned her hair back to Donna and said in a voice Martha could only just hear, "Let her change."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, looking even more confused than before, "Jenny, what's going on in that head of hers?"

"We've been trying to make her remember," Jenny sighed, ignoring the Captain, "But we should have let it come back naturally. It's not time,"

"When _is _it time?" Martha asked, biting her lip. Jenny looked up and grinned.

"Soon, Martha, don't you worry. Anyway, you're a doctor. Doesn't sleep help the healing process?"

Martha nodded after a moment, and Jenny got up, clearly ending their conversation. With a cheery `goodbye´, Jenny slipped past the confused pair, going up the stairs. After a stunned silence, Jack followed her halfway up the stairs, calling out, "But, Jenny…she _will _wake up?"

"Undoubtedly," came the reply, "Just not _yet_."

* * *

_Review, and questions will be answered! Next time, I will try and update one of my other stories, particularly "An Unlikely Pairing", but this one is just bubbling away in my mind *bounces*_

_I think I will revert back to my old, review-whore-y phase and say I'll update at **245 reviews :D:D:D**_

_Review! x_


	22. Chapter 21

_I love you guys. I love love love love looove you all! Do you know how much of a SPAZ I had when I saw the number of reviews I had?!?! I might even crack 300 on this story, and it's all because of you guys :') THANK YOU SO MUCH! _

_Now, before I launch into my Oscar acceptance speech (whaat? I haven't planned one! ;D), I feel I should gift you all with an update, because I love all my reviewers so much :P _

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, not mine. Might possibly be a blessing in disguise, as well; my "Doctor Who" is so much…naughtier. ;) *_hides canoodling Jack and Ianto in cupboard*_

_

* * *

_

**Remembering**

Chapter 21

Jack leant against his desk, staring down at the bed against the wall. On it lay Donna, lying on her back with her hair billowing over the pillow like a halo. Her temperature had lowered slightly, and Martha had told him she was okay to be moved into a more comfortable environment, and Jack hadn't left the sick woman's presence since.

The part of his brain that didn't want to hurt Ianto was screaming at him, begging him to step away from Donna before his feelings for her became too obvious. The other part of his mind, however, argued that his feelings had been quite clear over these past weeks, so he stayed put.

After assuring the team that Donna would be okay, and back up again soon, Jenny had disappeared off to explore Cardiff, and nobody had heard from her for a couple of hours. Jack knew the Doctor would be annoyed to know they'd let his daughter out in a strange city by herself, but Jack knew she would be just fine – judging, of course, that she had her father's instinct. Still, he felt antsy without her here, since she seemed to be the only person confident in Donna's safety – even Martha could be spotted glancing worriedly at Donna's vitals.

Unbeknownst to Jack, Into leant against the doorframe of the office, watching his lover stare at Donna with eyes, with which he could almost see into Jack's soul – he could see hope, hope that Donna would be okay; he could see doubt, and anguish that another friend could be lost. And, unsurprisingly, Ianto could see love in Jack's eyes – not the crazy, lustful love that Jack held for him, and Gwen, and many other people, but honest-to-God, pure and true love. How Donna could have got to Jack so thoroughly in such a short amount of time was a mystery to Ianto, but he was glad that she had. Seeing Jack, his soul laid bare in his frosty blue eyes, made it so much easier to do this.

"Jack," Ianto made his presence known quietly, but even that made Jack start slightly.

"Oh, hi, Ianto," Jack quickly schooled his worried, love struck features into a clean mask, the adoration in his eyes quickly replaced by guilt. Despite himself, Ianto felt proud that Jack was so desperate not to hurt him and to stay with him, and part of his heart begged him no to end it. Still, it was too late now.

"I need a word," the softly spoken Welsh man told his boss, before leading him out of the room.

* * *

Jenny smiled into her drink as the man beside her chatted, every so often cracking jokes that made her giggle. She was only on her third drink, and already she was feeling woozy – this Earth stuff was _strong_.

After leaving the Torchwood hub, Jenny had aimlessly wandered Cardiff for a while before realizing that, to properly engage in the Welsh nightlife, she shouldn't be wearing trousers and combat boots. So, after a search, she found herself at Gwen Cooper's apartment, and as soon as the pregnant brunette heard of Jenny's cause, she had swept the young Time Lady inside, curling her blonde hair and smearing make-up on her face, before pulling a selection of party dresses out of the wardrobe. The man-of-the-house, Rhys, Jenny believed he was called, had glanced up as his wife bustled the stranger through the house, but was clearly used to strange happenings and simply let the women do as they pleased.

She had to admit, Jenny had been happy with the end result. Gwen had curled her hair into ringlets, and swept her fringe to the side before using hairspray to keep it all in place. Her blue eyes were carefully outlined with black and her face powdered, the blusher on her cheekbones making her look like a china doll. Her lips were painted ruby red, matching her killer high-heeled shoes. The dress she wore was tight, clinging to all the right places, and black, and it fell to just above her knees. Once armed with a sparkly black clutch, and a selection of clubs to visit, Jenny had bid goodbye to Gwen and Rhys, and now found herself in her fifth nightclub. Earth parties were much more fun than any Jenny had experienced before – the music was loud and had a rhythm you could dance to, and people _did _dance, uninhibited and carefree. People seemed friendly, too, as this was the eighth man who had come over and chatted to her.

This guy, though, was by _far _the best looking. He was tall, much taller than Jenny, with dark, chocolate-colored skin and eyes that sometimes looked dark brown, and sometimes looked amber when the right light hit them. He had black hair shaved close to the scalp, and a gorgeous smile that revealed rows of pearly white teeth. He wasn't dressed too extravagantly, just a white shirt with the top buttons undone and blue jeans. He had introduced himself as Jonathan Carlisle ("But you can call me JC," he'd added, with a wink that made Jenny's knees go weak).

"So," JC suddenly interrupted her thoughts, and she noticed for the first time that he had inched closer to her, until there was hardly breathing room in-between them, "Are we going to stand here and talk all night, or do you want to do something different?"

"Like what?" Jenny asked sweetly, naively smiling whilst wondering whether she should be getting back to Donna. Without saying anything, JC put down his glass and suddenly his arms were around her waist, his lips crushed against hers.

Jenny gasped against his mouth, her hands coming up to brace against his chest, all prepared to push him away, when she suddenly realized that the ambush he had just launched on her was not all together an ambush – in fact, it felt quite…nice.

As she finally melted into Jock's embrace, she faintly remembered the kiss she had shared with that spotty guard back on Messalina – her death and the spaceship accident had caused some memory loss, but she _did _remember that kisses were a way of showing human affection, and she also remembered that snagging that pimple adolescent had been, for lack of a better word, vile. Not at all like snagging JC, which was making her legs go weak as she longed for more.

Finally, he broke away from her, breathing heavily – not for the first time in her short life, Jenny was thankful for her own repertory bypass – and he smiled that million-dollar smile. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against her hair before whispering in her ear, "How about we go back to mine?"

Jenny frowned, a little disappointed that they weren't going to kiss anymore, "Well, okay, why not? Oh, a friend of mine told me there's an interesting documentary on the BBC about evolution – do you want to watch that?"

JC blinked in confusion, staring down at this bizarre little woman. Quickly shaking his head to clear his confusion, he smiled and didn't answer, instead taking her hand and leading her toward the door – surely this 'documentary' was a euphemism?

* * *

Ianto sat at his desk, legs crossed as Jack paced before him, the American's face twisted in surprise and confusion. Ianto, once again, wondered if perhaps _"This relationship is over,"_ was a little too blunt.

Finally, Jack turned to face his lover – or, _former_ lover -, his hands on his hips, "So, you just want to end this?"

"Yep."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

After a moment of gaping, Jack finally stuttered, "But…_why_? Am, am I not good enough for you?"

Ianto shook his head hurriedly, "Jack, no. It isn't that at all."

"Then what? Am I not _satisfying _you anymore?"

"Oh, it _definitely _isn't that!"

"Then what?" Jack demanded, his voice verging on hysterical – he had given up so much for this man; he'd pushed Donna away, he'd been prepared to lose her, and now _he _was finishing it?!

"Feelings…" Ianto began, clearing his throat, "Feelings that were, urm, once there are just…just _not_, anymore."

Jack's eyes widened, and Ianto hurried to finish what he had to say, "And, that's not a bad thing! Not necessarily. Sometimes stuff likes this just happens, relationships fizzle out, attraction fizzles out, until the only thing left is…well, loyalty,"

"You've fallen out of love." Jack breathed. Sadly, Ianto shook his head.

"Nobody's fallen out of love," he replied, "But, you've fallen _in _love. With Donna,"

Despite himself, Jack snorted, half turning away from the teaboy. Ianto frowned.

"I'm not…I'm not _in love _with Donna," Jack exclaimed, looking back at Ianto with defiance written across his face. Seeing Ianto's sad, pitiful look made Jack falter, and he sighed, hanging his head.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "Honest to God, I am sorry,"

"That's okay," Ianto told him, standing up and walking towards Jack, placing his hands on his shoulders. Jack looked up and met Ianto's kind eyes.

"Go look after her," he instructed, "Don't leave her side, and be there when she wakes up. Tell her how you feel, and, for _God's sake_, man, don't let her slip away again!"

Jack laughed, dragging Ianto into a tight hug. Ianto clung back to his boss, burying his face in Jack's strong shoulder. The two men stood in their embrace for several moments, before Ianto stepped away, patting Jack's cheek.

"You'll be a gorgeous couple,"

Jack looked sadly at his teaboy, "What'll you do?"

"I'll be fine, Jack. I don't require you to exist," Ianto chuckled, "Maybe there's someone out there for me, too,"

With a secret smile, Ianto let go of Jack and turned towards the door. Just before he could open it, Jack called out.

"Hey, Ianto. Whatever happened to that girl? Bryn?"

Ianto paused in the doorway, before turning around and smiling at Jack.

"I don't know. Hopefully, she's living an alien-free life,"

"Did you retcon her?" Jack asked. He hadn't had the chance to make sure that case was followed up, what with all his recent drama.

"Yes." Ianto lied, before walking out the door and letting it shut behind him.

* * *

_Match-making, lying Ianto FTW!!! :3_

_Haha :-) well, I hope you really enjoyed this chapter, it took a while to write, haha :P next time, we'll see what Jenny and JC got up to in our absense (as if you can't guess..), there might be more Torchwood Shenanigans ;D and, who knows? We might get to visit Chiswick, where two special people might stop by. I dunno… :P_

_We'll only find out if I get prettiful REVIEWS! :D:D xx_


	23. Chapter 22

_Hi guys! Sorry about the wait, I hope you didn't get too impatient (:_

_Just a quick __**personal update**__ first, methinks: So, life has been pretty crazy what with school work, but today we FINALLY handed in our Personal Projects, so now that is out of the way, I hope updates will get a bit more regular. _

_I am, as you all know, quite an unpredictable updater, so I have posted general updates on my Profile Page will I will probably updated every couple of weeks, and I have also put a link to my _**TWITTER PAGE**_ on my profile – I update that almost every day, so if you want to see my updaters (or, just give me more followers, I don't mind ;D) just check it out (-: _

_Also, check out my page, please. I have a poll I need answers to for this story!! _

_Thank you once more for all your marvelous reviews. I really would love to crack the big 3-0-0 with this baby! _

_Without further ado, here is the next chapter of "Remembering"! _

Disclaimer: If "Doctor Who" was mine, I would know when its restarting next month. But, I don't. Does anyone know a date???

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 22

The room was dark, the only light coming from a small window in the wall. The moon outside was full, and the stars shone brightly over Cardiff Bay. Jenny could faintly hear the sounds of water, and seagulls roaming the late night shores.

JC lay beside her, one arm draped protectively over her stomach. His head lay on the pillow beside hers, and he was ever-so-softly snoring. Somewhere, in this little room, her clothes and shoes had been discarded, along with his. Jenny hoped Gwen wouldn't be too worried about them, or her.

As she lay, awkwardly, in this strange bed, her muscles aching from the strange act she and JC had commited, Jenny had never felt more naïve in her life. She didn't know much about human tradition, but her basic instincts suggested that human men were constantly on the prowl for a mate, and whatever they had just done was some sort of bizarre, modern-day Earth mating ritual.

She should have known that he had darker intentions. He hadn't even seemed very interesting in the documentary, and then…then he kissed her again. And suddenly, as his ministrations went further, Jenny let her mind go blank and allowed her primal instincts to take over. Luckily, Time Ladies weren't so different from humans.

Still, whatever they had done, it hadn't been…_bad_, or anything. He hadn't hurt her too much, and apologised when he did. JC was an incredibly sweet man, and this mating act he had introduced her to was, in fact, quite pleasureable.

Despite that fact, Jenny's stomach twisted fearfully when she remembered that now, she could be _pregnant_. She wasn't old enough to be a mother! How would she take care of it? Her dad would be furious, as would Jack.

Jenny swallowed thickly and shifted slightly under JC's arm. He shifted beside her and muttered something, before removing his limb and rolling over, immediately returning to his snoring. Jenny breathed a sigh of relief and clambered out of bed, wincing slightly at the dull ache in her muscles. Quickly as she could, Jenny pulled on her dress and her shoes, before gathering up her effects and sneaking out of the apartment.

Perhaps Gwen could help her out.

* * *

Jack sat beside Donna's bed, still, waiting. He had been sitting here for a while now, and hadn't said anything. Martha had encoureged him to speak to Donna.

"Your voice might pull her out of her state," she'd told him.

Still, Jack could not find it in him to say anything right now. He kept thinking about Ianto. Sweet, innocent, darling Ianto, who's sweetness had been soured by his nymphomaniac boss, who's innocence had been spoilt by the murder of his lover at the hands of the Cybermen and the nature of his job. Jack couldn't look at Ianto without seeing the shadow of the naïve boy in the haunted man's face.

In spite of all that, Ianto managed to hold onto what Jack had lost centuries ago – his humanity. Ianto could still smile and try to cheer the team up after a hard day's work. Ianto could still reveal his inner most emotions when everybody else bottled theirs up. Ianto could tell when it was right to end a relationship. He wasn't so caught up in trying not to cause more guilt, like Jack was.

With a lingering sigh, Jack leant forward and rested the palm of his hand on Donna's head, wracking his brains for something to say.

* * *

She couldn't sleep. She could rarely sleep alone – everytime she closed her eyes, she saw her family. The family she had abandoned in another world, all because she couldn't bear to be away from one man.

Well, not even a man. An alien. A Time Lord.

When her husband had realised he was dying, he insisted that Rose be able to get back to the Doctor. She was worth more, he'd said, than a widow's life. She deserved to get home.

Rose hadn't even complained. She'd let him recreate the canon, even helped him, too busy with the fantasy of getting back to her world to notice her John withering away. It was only when the canon was built and ready to go, and she had said her goodbyes, that she looked at him and couldn't see her half-Doctor. She could see a man who was sickly, who was dying.

If she had insisted that he not build the canon, John could've enjoyed his last months in peace, with his wife and love. Instead, she'd allowed him to build her a way back to her _real _love. And for that, Rose was unforgiveably selfish.

She had been happy to return to the Doctor, and the Tardis, but she was also guilty. When she had lain down in her old room, which still looked the same, she hadn't been able to sleep. Her rest was haunted by dreams – she could see her mother, slowly dying without an inkling as to what her eldest daughter was doing. Rose had vanished from Jackie's life before, but only for a year, a year during which Jackie had hope. In the dreams, Jackie had no hope.

Sometimes, she saw her faux father, and her little brother Tony. In the dreams, Tony grew up wondering where his big sister was, but nobody ever told him. In the end, he forgot about Rose, instead focusing on the new little sisters Rose imagined he'd get.

Mostly, she saw her husband, returning to the parallel world with the canon after leaving her in the Tardis. She saw him lying on the floor in the laboratory, gasping desperately for air, too exhausted to even move. She saw him dying on that floor, alone and abandoned, and woke up with tears on her pillow and wails dying in her throat.

There was no way that Rose could know what really happened after her departure, but there were always the dreams, and always the possibility. And for that, Rose was unforgiveably selfish and forever guilty.

The Doctor knew she had nightmares. He just didn't know what kind of nightmares, and Rose had no mind to tell him. All he knew was that she would crawl into his bed at night, and sleep beside him. From what he could tell, she slept peacefully beside him – perhaps his prescence calmed her. It was only when she slept in her own room that she screamed in her sleep.

Tonight was no different – without fail, she had tiptoed into his room and he had let her under the covers and she fell asleep beside him. He lay propped up on his elbow, watching the blonde sleep.

She was beautiful. She always had been, from the day they met, when she was nineteen and a shop girl, and he had a different face. Age had lined her face, but only slightly – she was still young. Barely twenty-five years old, and already she had stared death in the face more times than anyone double her age; as was the life of the Doctor's companion.

The Doctor longed to reach out and stroke a strand of hair away from her damp cheeks – she'd been crying again. But, he restrained himself. Since her return to the Tardis, he had done his level best to keep his distance. If he went and fell in love again, he wouldn't be able to keep from showing it. His year with Donna had helped him get over Rose slightly, but he was still on the brink of an abyss, and he couldn't fall in.

She was mourning her husband, still, and the Doctor couldn't put himself in the position to love her openly, then lose her. Perhaps he was a coward, but he was a safe coward.

Instead, he got up out of bed and padded into the control room. The Tardis hummed happily in the back of his mind, and the Doctor instantly knew they had landed. Smiling widely, he took long steps to the doors and flung them open, revealing the top of a hill he knew well. The hill Wilfred came to, almost every evening.

He hadn't landed in Chiswick since leaving Donna, but he did keep an eye on this hill. He had seen Wilfred come up and watch the skies, tears glistening on his aged face. The sight sometimes made the Doctor tear up, as well as Rose. Wilfred longed for nothing more than to have Donna travelling the stars again, but she couldn't.

The Doctor gazed out at the familiar landscape, smiling softly as he remembered back to his and Donna's second meeting, when the Adipose came to be. They had flown over this hill, and waved at Wilfred. It seemed like so long ago.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor turned to see Rose leaning against the console – she had changed into a pink dress, tight at the bodice and flowing out into the skirt. She had tied her hair into pigtails, and had put a small amount of make-up on her face. She was gorgeous.

"We're in Chiswick!" the Doctor beamed. Rose grinned widely.

"Well, let's not hang about in here then!" she laughed, skipping forward and grabbing his hand, yanking him out of the Tardis. He laughed along with her and shut the door behind them.

* * *

Jack honestly didn't know what he had been talking about for fifteen minutes. He just knew he was _talking_. And she wasn't showing any signs of waking up.

Jack sighed again and leant back in his chair, turning his eyes up towards the ceiling. He fixed them on a spot, and opened his mouth.

"I'm sure you'll be interested to know Ianto dumped me," he said with a sour chuckle, "He thinks our relationship has fizzled out. Can't say I disagree,"

He tilted forward again, picking up her cold, limp hand and trapping it between his, pressing a kiss to her fingertips.

"He thinks I'm in love with you," Jack breathed, squeezing his eyes shut as he leant his forehead against their joined hands, "Can't say I disagree,"

He opened his eyes and looked at her peaceful face. Jack prayed that something would change; just a flicker of the eyelids, or a twitch of the lips? _Anything_.

Then, her eyes slid open, blue meeting blue. Jack's heart missed a beat.

* * *

_Cliffhanger? Methinks so :D. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Kinda a long Rose-centric bit...sorry! I got off topic! :P_

_Please take heed of what I said in the first author's note – I could really use help with the poll thing (x _

_Because I'm horrible, I am going to impose just a __weenie__ review limit…shall we say, __**270**__ reviews? That's only, like, three! XD _

_Thank you for reading! x_


	24. Chapter 23

_Wow, I fail so bad ._._

_A million apologies, guys! Time got away from me, but, now it's SUMMER~, I can actually focus on my writing again (: i hope to get at least this story and "Human Nature" finished before I go on vacaaaaation, but y'never know!_

_Enough rambling – please enjoy, and review! The response from last chapter was staggering, thanks so much! I AM SO CLOSE TO 300 REVIEWS I COULD CRY! *inner Review-Whore dies*_

Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately. *weeps*

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 23

Donna frowned up at Jack, her brow crinkling adorably. Her large eyes swept around the room, before finally landing on the Captain.

"Jack?" she whispered, her voice weak and hoarse. He nodded adamently, slipping an arm around her waist and helping her into a sitting position.

"I can't believe your awake! Oh, Donna," he exclaimed, allowing himself a little personal moment as he hugged her close, his arm still around her. Donna frowned again.

"What the _hell_ happened?" she asked, "The last thing I remember is…trying to…leave…"

Her face fell and she stared at Jack, who didn't notice her horror, "Yeah, you were about to go, when you suddenly passed out. All of us were really worried, but Jenny used her special Time Lord tricks to make sure you were okay – then it was just a matter of time, time which appears to be over now that you're awake and why are you _looking at me like that_?"

Jack finally noticed the look on Donna's face, and as soon as she was directly adressed, Donna struggled away from Jack, standing up only to wobble dangerously and have Jack back on his feet, taking hold of her to keep her steady.

"I would not recommend walking," he said grimly, "At least not until Martha has come to check you out,"

"I shouldn't be here!" Donna exclaimed, "I need to go home, I can't tay here any longer."

Jack calmly took hold of the struggling redhead's shoulders, turning her to face him. With a strong grip, he took hold of her chin and forced her to look up, meeting his eyes. As soon as their gaze met each other, Donna grew still, captivated. Jack smirked at her distraction.

"Why can't you be here?" he asked tenderly, brushing her hair behind her ear, "Don't you like it here?"

"It's not my place to be here," Donna stressed, "Anyway, you were the one not paying an attention to me before,"

Donna couldn't help but scowl at him, and Jack grinned widely, amused by her standing in front of him with a childish pout on her endearing face.

"Is that what this is about? Daddy not paying you the most attention, and spending time with the other kids?" he chuckled, teasing her. Donna's mouth fell open, aghast and affronted by his insult.

"It is _nothing _like that!" Donna snapped, pushing him forcefully away, "I am not a spoilt child you need to placate! You brought me here to help me, and then just pawned me off on your _team_. Thanks for turning me into a burden – _Captain_!"

She topped off her rant with a sarcastic salute, and Jack shook his head, still slightly amused.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like a burden," Jack gently told her, "It's just…I couldn't be around you to much; I was commited to Ianto."

"Why? Did I pose some threat?" Donna asked, ironically. Jack's serious gaze made her sarcastic expression drop.

"More of a threat than you know," he confessed, his heart hammering behind his ribs. Oh God, what if he'd miscalculated? What if she wasn't going to reciprocate his feelings? Would she make fun of him, expose his love to the rest of the team, betray his trust? No, she wouldn't. There was no way he miscalculated.

Donna stared at him with shocked eyes, while his implication ran around her mind. He…_liked_ her? Enough to make Ianto jealous, apparently. But that was impossible – a man like Jack would never look twice at a woman like her. She wasn't his type. Was she?

"Please say something," Jack suddenly begged, shoving his hands in his pockets and pouting, looking every bit like a pleading toddler. Donna quickly scrambled around, trying to find a scrap of comprehension, before stuttering, "Bu—bu—wha—what? Wha—what are you trying to…to say?"

Jack rolled his eyes impatiently, before saying slowly and delibrately, "I think my feelings for you have exceeded a _professional _level, and certain compromised my relationship with Ianto.

"You _like _me?" Donna gasped. Jack nodded.

"In layman's terms, yes, I do."

Donna shook her head, stubbornly, and Jack felt his stomach flip.

"But you _can't_!" she exclaimed, "You are so far out of my league!"

Jack frowned, genuinely confused, "You're not going to accept my affections because you think you're out of my league?"

"Well you _are_. Look at yourself!"

"Donna," Jack stepped forward, taking both her hands, "I don't think you're not good enough for me. In fact, I think you're just _perfect _for me!"

Jack paused suddenly, smiling slightly at all the truths pouring off his lips – hard to believe it took Ianto breaking up with him and offering his famous insight to realise it all.

Donna stared at him, skeptically, "How long was I asleep again?"

Jack chuckled, "You see? You and I fit together so well. Are…are you trying to tell me you don't like me?"

"Jack, I _do _like you," Donna insisted, squeezing his hands. Her bright blue eyes gazed up into his, "In fact, I think I love yo—"

Donna barely had time to finish her sentance before Jack's lips had crashed down onto hers.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose strolled hand in hand down the hill. Rose had her gaze directed above her, admiring the millions of stars in the velvet sky, and had grabbed ahold of the Doctor after she had nearly fallen and broken her ankle twice. The Doctor kept his gaze directed on Donna's house – he knew it was hers, because he'd learnt quickly to pick out her house from her neighbours' after he had knocked several times on the wrong doors.

Rose seemed to sense that her Doctor was nervous and wrapped her fingers even more securely around his. He smiled slightly, turning to look at her. She grinned in that oh-so-Rose way of hers, before looking back up.

The walk to Donna's back door seemed to take less time than usual, and, seemingly seconds later, he was knocking on the wood, his stomach churning. What if _she _answered? Well, she'd probably be talking all the way to the door, in which case he would just duck for cover and leave Rose to fend for herself and get them out of that situation.

Luckily, the door swung open a second later to reveal Wilfred Mott, rather than his granddaughter.

"Doctor!" he exclaimed, delighted, "And…Rose Tyler, was it? Come in, both of you!"

"Hiya, Wilf," Rose chuckled as she and the Doctor were escorted into the warm house, "How ya doin'?"

"Just fine, ta. Sylvia's popped down the shops, I'm afraid – you've just missed her."

"That's okay!" the Doctor responded quickly, making both Wilf and Rose laugh, "We actually came down to see how…how Donna was,"

He said the end of his sentance in a whisper, and it was only then that Rose noticed he had been sneaking through the hallway, and sat on the edge of the sofa as if preparing to bolt at any sign of the redheaded temp.

Wilf shook his head, "No need to sneak about, dear boy – she's not here."

Instantly, the Doctor relaxing, leaning back into the couch and stretching out his long legs, throwing an arm along the back of the sofa.

"Oh? Where is she?" he asked curiously.

Wilfred sighed, "Cardiff?"

"_Cardiff_?" Rose and the Doctor exclaimed at the same time, both of them surprised – neither of them thought Donna was the type to jet off to Wales.

"New job?" Rose assumed. Wilfred shook her head.

"Nope. Couple'a weeks ago, some 'friend' knocked on the door, and whisked Donna away – she hadn't told us anything, and we barely hear from her now, and haven't seen her since. She didn't even leave an address for that Welsh lassie – Gwendolyn, or summat…"

"Gwen?" the Doctor asked suddenly, instantly stiffening. Rose froze too, remembering the girl on the 'outer-space Facebook' who bore a remarkable resemblance to the young woman she met once, in 19th century Cardiff.

"Yes, that's it!" Wilfred laughed, "Gwen Cooper, 'er name was."

The Doctor's face had completely blanched, and Rose could feel him tremble – whether it was with rage or worry, she didn't know.

Suddenly, he seethed, "What has he _done_?"

Instantly, he leapt to his feet, galloping out of the living room. Rose and Wilfred both followed, at a slower pace.

"What's who done?" Wilfred yelled.

"Is it Jack?" Rose demanded, reaching out and grabbing the tails of the Doctor's coat, forcing him to stop.

"You bet it is!" he snapped, spinning round, "That idiot is gonna _kill_ her."

Wilfred paled, "Donna…?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yes, Donna."

Then he started running out of the house again, this time followed by Wilf and Rose.

* * *

_300 reviews? (a)_

_Thanks for reading – I promise to update faster next time! Beth xx_


	25. Chapter 24

**Remembering**

Chapter 24

Jenny stuck her hands deeply into the pockets of her jacket, her lower lip sticking out childishly and her brow furrowed in annoyance as she desperately tried to ignore her companion. Unfortunately, the woman beside her managed to make herself known without _saying _anything, to the fury of the young Time Lady.

"Will you _stop _it?"

"What am I doing?" Gwen asked playfully, shrugging as she rested her hands on her slightly rounded stomach.

"You don't have to do _anything_. I can feel you looking at me like…well, like _that_."

"I can't help it – I'm just so proud of you!"

"Did you know your accent thickens when you're being annoying?"

"He wasn't bad looking!" Gwen cooed, ignoring Jenny's jibe, "And you were the one he seduced!"

"Seduced is such an ugly word – completely the _wrong _word, actually!" Jenny snapped, turning to face Gwen as they walked towards the Tourist Office entrance of Torchwood.

"Why? Because you didn't put up much of a fight?" Gwen asked with a quirk of her eyebrows and a cheeky grin. Jenny flushed deeply, causing the Welsh woman to throw back her head and laugh.

"Stop bullying me," Jenny ground out, starting to walk again.

"Wait 'til your dad finds out about this…!"

"_Stop it!_"

"Wait 'til _Jack _finds out! You think I'm bad, wait until he gets his claws out—"

Jenny was saved from Gwen's teasing by Mickey running up behind them and grabbing both of their shoulders, scaring the life out of them.

"_Mickey!_" Gwen squealed, swatting at him. Mickey grinned innocently and shrugged his shoulders as Jenny linked arms with him, dragging him towards the door.

"C'mon, you two – we don't want to be _late_, do we?" Jenny asked.

The three of them made their way down to Torchwood's hub, laughing and joking all the way. Jenny didn't bring up the recent loss of her virginity, Gwen didn't talk about her dreadful morning sickness or her arguments with Rhys over doing her job while pregnant, Mickey didn't reveal that he had kissed their co-worker Martha, and none of them brought up the fact that Donna had being lying unconcious in their main building and would be doing so for God knows how long.

Until they heard voices chatting and laughing in the Hub.

Intrigued, the three people made their way as quietly as possible through the cogwheel door, though they needn't have bothered since the two people they were hiding from were too engrossed in each other to take heed of them. Jenny, Mickey and Gwen all stood against the railing, eyes wide as they stared down at the sight below them.

Captain Jack leant against Mickey's desk casually, an easy smile gracing his features as he doted his attention on the woman several inches in front of his face. Donna Noble, who had been in a coma state the last time anyone had seen her, was talking animatedly to him, her hands alternating between resting on his shoulders and chest, and gesturing in front of him to add to whatever story she was telling. They stood intimately close, their legs entangled, his arms wrapped loosly around her waist, and if either of them wanted to, they could easily move their heads several centimetres and they'd be kissing.

Gwen could feel her mouth was hanging open, and when she looked at Jenny and Mickey, they were in similar states. Everybody had seen the attraction between Jack and Donna, but nobody thought it would come to this – especially with Ianto still around.

Speak of the devil…Gwen spied Ianto hanging out of the doorway of Jack's office, waving at them and gesturing them to come up. She tapped Mickey gently, and then took Jenny's limp wrist and led them both up, where they found both Martha and Ianto awaiting them.

The minute the door was closed, questions filled the room.

"What on _Earth _is going on?"

"How long have they been like that?"

"When did she wake up?"

"I don't know!" Martha cried, "I got here, and they were like that – they may have been like that for _hours_."

"B-b-buh…" Gwen stumbled over her words, looking helplessly at Ianto.

"It's okay." Ianto soothed, sensing her distress, "Jack and I talked, and I encouraged him to go for this."

"You told him to go after Donna?" Mickey asked. Ianto nodded.

"It'll make him happy," Ianto assured his teammates, "And me, of course. They'll be others – in fact, there _are _others."

His friends looked at each other, all curious, but they could tell from Ianto's secretive smile that they wouldn't be hearing any kiss-and-tell stories just yet.

"Well, what do we do now?" Jenny asked, biting the skin of her thumb, "If we all trail out of his office, Jack'll know we've been here."

"I can't believe they didn't notice us come in!" Martha cried.

"They're too absorbed in each other," Gwen sighed, a slightly dreamy quality to her tone.

Martha sighed also and folded her arms, and Mickey glanced at her, his eyes widening when he noticed that, for once, Martha was not sporting her large diamond engagement ring. Her ring finger was totally bare!

She must have felt his hot gaze, because she turned and met it, before following his line of sight and blushing deeply when she saw what he had noticed. Their gaze met again once more and, instead of looking away ashamedly, Martha smiled shyly at him.

Mickey smiled shyly back at her.

* * *

Donna finished the story she had been telling, resting her arms on his shoulders as he chuckled at the resolution of it. She smiled slightly as she allowed her fingers to trace the skin at the base of his neck, where neck met shoulder, and his laughter died down as he watched her intently.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, his voice slightly husky. Donna shrugged, her gaze still fixated on her hands.

"Nothing," she told him innocently, "I'm just wondering what your team must think,"

Jack grinned widely, "They'll be a bit freaked when they get here, won't they?"

Donna finally raised her gaze to his, humour dancing in her eyes in stark contrast to her somber expression.

"Jack." she said, all-serious, "They already _are _here."

He frowned, "What?"

A grin split over Donna's face, "Ianto arrived first, then Martha, and Jenny, Gwen and Mickey arrived about five minutes ago. Didn't you notice?"

Jack shook his head, surprised, "Where are they all?"

"I dunno – they all went up there," Donna told him, inclining her head in the direction of his office, "I guess they're hiding from us,"

"Doesn't seem like Gwen," Jack mused, earning a chuckle from the woman in his arms. With a sigh, he stood on his own two feet, pulling Donna flush against him in the action.

"Should we give them a bit of a show?" he asked jokingly, waggling his eyebrows in the process. Donna laughed and shook her head, pushing him away gently.

"I don't think so, love," she chuckled, "Though maybe we can later…a bit more _privately_, of course."

Jack arched a brow and shot her a wink, before heading for the stairs, intent on fetching his team downstairs. Donna watched after him, feeling like a lovesick teenager.

A couple of minutes later, the rest of the Torchwood team trailed down the stairs after Jack – Mickey and Ianto had engaged in conversation with the Captain, while Jenny was keeping her eyes on her feet and Gwen was grinning pointedly at Donna, who felt herself grow warm under the Welsh woman's knowing eyes.

Before anybody could speak, Jack began handing out orders – Gwen and Jenny were to monitor the rift activity, Mickey had to attempt once more to discover the origin of the mysterious signal, Ianto had to begin organizing some of the recent archives, and Martha was to perform a medical examination on Donna, who, according to Jack, "just woke up".

Donna shot him a glare over her shoulder as Martha led her away, and he beamed back, unable to tear his eyes away until they were out of sight. Then he bounded over to Mickey, watching him as he worked on the signal.

It was definitely closer now, as the static sound coming from the speakers was much louder but still as illegible. Mickey swore that something in the sound was familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Jack had sat with him for half an hour, watching silently as he worked, when it happened.

A gust of wind swept through the Hub, disturbing some papers and lifting the girls' hair. Gwen and Jenny both looked up, frowning as they glanced around.

"What was that?" Gwen asked. Jack stared at the cog door – it was shut.

"I don't know." he answered honestly.

"We're underground – how can the wind be down here?" Ianto demanded gruffly, reorganizing his archive paper.

Then there was a faint sound – a whirring, the grinding of ancient engines. Jack felt his blood run cold, then promptly heat up again, enough to give him an angry flush.

"It's him," Mickey breathed, standing to his feet simultaniously with his boss.

"Oh my God," Gwen breathed, latching onto Jenny's hand.

The wind blew stronger than ever, as the engines grew louder and a large shape materialized in the middle of the room – a familiar blue policebox, with a flashing light above it.

"The Doctor," Jack growled.

Mickey glanced up towards Jack's office, where Martha and Donna still were, and prayed they wouldn't come down.

The Tardis had now completely materialized, and a heavy silence settled, the calm before the Oncoming Storm.

Then the door swung open, and a familiar tall, lanky, spikey-brown-haired man stepped out, with blazing eyes and an angry flush to match Jack's. He marched towards the Captain, his coat tails swishing behind him and his Converse sneakers squeaking on the floor.

"Captain Jack Harkness." he groaned, stepping right into Jack's personal space, "What the _hell _have you done?"

* * *

…_cue theme music! :D _

_Sorry for the long wait – I hope this chapter made up for it. I will definitely be updating soon, no worries! Please review x_


	26. Chapter 25

_Oh my goshh. It has been too long! Eek. I'm so sorry – I am back at school now and they have wasted no time in burying us in homework. Its borderline unbearable! But, hey, thats IB for ya! ;)_

_In fact, I should be doing homework now…TEEHEE._

_Sorry – again! I hope you enjoy this chapter (: x_

Disclaimer: TECHNICALLY, its not mine. But, if you include my dreams, then, hell yeah, I own it!

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 25

"Captain Jack Harkness." he groaned, stepping right into Jack's personal space, "What the _hell _have you done?"

Jack's eyes darkened in fury and, bracing his hands against the Doctor's chest, he pushed his old friend away from him roughly.

"What have _I _done?" he snapped, teeth bared defensively, "What in God's name have_ you _done?"

"I did it to protect her!" the Doctor cried, instantly knowing what Jack was talking about, "You don't know the full story, Jack."

"Oh, I don't need it." the Time Agent growled, "What was it, then? You couldn't stand her having a Time Lord conciousness? You didn't like her being just as smart as you, just as brilliant – if not, _more._"

Then Jack stepped forward, threateningly, and hissed, "Or did you just grow _bored_ of her?"

The hub grew silent as this accusation hung in the air – the Doctor's expression went from shocked, to hurt, to absolutely, On-Coming-Storm angry. He raised his arm as if to punch Jack square in the face, when a small hand grapped his bicep.

"_No_, Dad!" Jenny exclaimed. The Doctor gawped at her, and Jack, still smarting, took a step back, reluctantly appreciating their need for a moment.

"J-Jenny?" the Doctor gasped, taking in the sight of his daughter standing by him, her large brown eyes boring into his.

"Yep, it's me," she chuckled, grinning the same cheeky smile she had given him all those months ago – sometimes, it felt like years.

The Doctor said nothing – instead, he just pulled his arm from her grip and encircled her in a bear hug, crushing her tiny frame to his chest. Jenny clung back just as tightly, burying her face in his coat lapels.

"You were dead," he breathed against her hair, "I saw you, lying on that table, I saw you get shot – you were dead!"

"You underestimated me," Jenny giggled, "Maybe I'm more like you than you thought."

It took him a moment, but the Doctor finally got it.

"You regenerated!" he exclaimed, pulling back, "Well, not _completely_, of course, but…"

Jack sighed and tuned out the Doctor's babble, turning his gaze to the blue Tardis in front of him. Only then did he notice the blonde leaning out of it, and his eyes widened.

"Rose!" he cried, and, as soon as he had noticed her, Rose came flying out of the time machine and into his embrace, laughing tearfully.

"We didn't really get a reunion last time, did we?" she grinned, sniffling. Jack chuckled sadly at the memory, gripping her tighter. The two of them had been close during their time in the Tardis, and Jack had always had a soft spot fo Rose Tyler - but he had a healthy appreciation for the fact she was the Doctor's. She always had been.

As if on cue, he heard the Doctor's bitter voice from behind him.

"As sweet as this reunion is, I think it's high time we moved into the Tardis so we can explain the situation,"

Jack shot his old friend a resentful glare, before being led into the ship by Rose, followed by the Doctor, Jenny, Mickey, Gwen and Ianto.

Inside, Jack was surprised to see Donna's grandfather and mother sitting around the console, both looking pale and worried. Instantly grinning his most charming smile he stepped towards them, holding out a hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness – nice to see you again," he introduced himself, aware that he had never done so properly.

The older man smiled wearily and took his preoffered hand, shaking it firmly.

"Wilfred Mott," he said. Jack grinned at him and turned his attentions to Donna's mother – before he could say anything, she snapped.

"So _you're _Captain Harkness – you're the man risking my daughter's life by bringing her here!"

Jack frowned, retracting his hand, "What do you mean? We're trying to help Donna."

"_Help her_?" Sylvia screeched, leaping to her feet, "You are doing nothing of the sort! She _can't _remember the Doctor, or any of this - ever!"

Jack frowned, confused, when the Doctor placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. He turned to face the Time Lord.

"Doctor, what's going on?" he asked, dangerously quiet. Ianto, Gwen and Mickey all stood watching, just as confused. Rose backed behind the console, guiltily staring down at her hands.

"I erased Donna's memory," the Doctor confessed, removing his hand from Jack, "And I know you think you know why I did it, but you _don't_."

"Why did you do it, then? We kept trying to call you, and ask but you never…"

It was the Doctor's turn to look sheepish, "Well…here's the thing. I haven't actually seen that phone in a while."

"You lost Martha's phone?" Mickey asked, sounding unsurprised. The Doctor shrugged innocently.

"I'm sure it's around here _somewhere_…but this is a big ship, I don't really have the time…"

"_Forget the phone_!" Jack seethed, "Just get to the part where you erase Donna's memory!"

The Doctor nodded, and sighed loudly, preparing himself to tell this story.

"Donna couldn't handle it," he finally said, "The whole Time Lord conciousness in her mind – it was killing her, and she couldn't bare it."

Jack's face showed no reaction, except for a slight twitch in his jaw. The Doctor met his eyes, intensity glowing in the brown orbs.

"I had to bury it deep in her mind, and the only way to ensure she would be safe was to make her forget me as well. She would have _died_, Jack, and she will burn up if she remembers. She can _never remember_."

"I didn't know!" Jack finally snapped, his stoic expression replaced with a horrified one, "I didn't know – I thought that you had kidnapped and some aliens wiped her memory. I thought I was _helping_!"

Gwen stepped forward and took Jack's hand, squeezing it firmly. Jack ceased his ranting, though he kept breathing heavily. The Doctor quirked the corners of his lips up, sympathetically.

"It's alright, Captain," he assured him, "It's not too late – she doesn't remember yet, right?"

Jack nodded.

"Then it's not too late. Just tell me _everything_ that has happened since I last saw you. Everything!"

* * *

"I really can't explain it," Martha grinned, leading Donna down the stairs into the main hub, "You seem perfectly healthy – there is nothing to indicate you were even in a coma,"

"Don't call it _that_." Donna cried, "It sounds so morbid!"

"What would prefer, then?"

"How about 'The Big Sleep'?"

Martha laughed, turning to face Donna as she got to the end of the staircase, "You're right, that sounds a lot better!"

Donna laughed with her, before her eyes settled on something behind Martha and her eyebrows arched, "What's that?"

Martha turned, and felt her blood run cold as she laid her gaze on the Tardis.

* * *

"…and that's pretty much it." Jack finished. He had told the Doctor everything that had happened, from hearing the signal, visiting Donna in Chiswick and helping her remember, right up to Donna waking from her coma. He had, of course, brushed over some details – like his growing attraction to Donna, and their love triangle involving Ianto. None of that was important, not for the Doctor.

"She just fell into a coma?" the Doctor asked, confused, "Did anything happen that triggered it? Anything?"

Jack was about to shake his head 'no', when Gwen jumped in.

"It was right when she was leavin', wasn't it? After you and her had a bust-up."

Jack shot his teammate a death glare, but the Doctor raised his eyesbrows, interested.

"What bust-up?" he asked, curiously.

"She was mad at Jack, 'ere, 'cos he felt she kept jerking her around," Gwen informed the console room's occupants, "They'd been having a little flirting-thing goin' on, but of course Jack could never act on his feelings 'cos he was committed to Ianto, so Donna was packing her bags to leave when he comes out, full throttle, to stop her, and then she goes and faints in his – _ouch_!"

Gwen only shut up when Jack delievered a painful elbow into her side. Her hand immediately went to her belly, and she smacked Jack on the chest.

"Careful, man!" she snapped, "I'm only pregnant, aren't I?"

"Are you? Congratulations," Rose offered from her position on the other side of the room.

"Oh, thanks, love," Gwen beamed back.

"You've been flirting with my daughter, have you?" Sylvia snarled, glaring at Jack.

"Now, Sylvia, it's only natural," Wilf shrugged, "He's a nice looking lad, Donna's a nice looking girl – and you know our Donna with handsome men."

"This is getting more than a little off topic…" the Doctor declared.

"It's not like Jack's the only one with love troubles anyway," Jenny leapt in, clearly trying to defend Jack, "Gwen and her husband have been fighting, Ianto likes this girl called Bryn, and Martha's just broken up with her fiancé for Mickey,"

The room went quiet as everyone turned to look at Ianto and Mickey, who, until then, had been stood together, leaning on the railings around the console, unnoticed. Ianto instantly blushed and turned his gaze to the floor, whilst Mickey shrugged innocently.

After a tense silent, the Doctor turned back to Jack, cleared his throat, and said, "Right, well, I guess that all we have to do now is—"

He was interrupted by the doors to the Tardis opening.

* * *

"Donna, I really suggest you go back upstairs," Martha demanded, trying to stop the older woman approaching the ship, "This may not be safe,"

"It doesn't feel unsafe," Donna said, sounding distracted as she gazed at the blue box, "In fact, it feels so…familiar. Have I seen this before?"

Martha felt panic churn in the pit of her stomach, "_Please_, Donna, Jack wouldn't—"

"Jack showed me a picture of this!" Donna suddenly gasped as she walked a slow circle around the box, trailing her hands over the wooden panels, "It's his – that Doctor's ship!"

"No," Martha lied, "It isn't."

"Yes it is!" she cried as she completed her circle, and stood facing the door, "It was real, wasn't it? All along."

"Donna…" Martha whispered as the redhead gripped the handle of the door

"_He's _real." Donna breathed, before pushing open the door to the Tardis, and her forgotten past.

* * *

_Cheesy line at the end. LOL I failz._

_Well guys, the moment is finally here…a bit of a reunion ;) it's only taken two plus years, eh? HAHA._

_Please review! Shall we say I will update at...**320 **reviews? :D thanks for reading! xx_


	27. Chapter 26

_Feel free to check out my profile for the long-winded apology and the reasons behind it – for now, I would just like to say I'm SO SORRY that it has been six months (oh God…) since this story was updated! Life has got the best of me, not for the first time. I invite you all to go back and read the last chapter (heheh, maybe ALL the chapters.) for a reminder of the recent happenings._

_And again… sorry!_

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own "Doctor Who" – all rights belong to whoever does own it right now. (:

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 26

The door to the Tardis swung open, and Donna cautiously stepped in. Everybody already occupying the ship froze, nine horrified gazes trained on her.

Donna opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly found no words would come out as her astonished eyes took in every aspect of the Tardis.

_It's bigger on the inside! _was the first thought she had, but for some reason she was unsurprised. It was as if she…expected it.

Moving very slowly, as if through treacle, she stepped further up the ramp, mesmerized by the sights before her. She was vaguely aware of Martha stepping in after her, and the soft click as the door was shut, locking out all Donna had come to see as normal and trapping her in this familiar, unbelievable world. She came to a halt halfway up the ramp, as her gaze finally fell on the man in the brown trench coat and pinstripe suit, the man who had evaded her dreams all these months, the man with two hearts, the man with the… hair.

Donna felt a dull ache in her head, and in her mind's eye she could almost see two heavy wooden doors being prised open, a burning golden light shining from behind them – as the doors were opened, the light came streaming out and Donna saw memories she did not remember making.

She saw giant red spiders, little grey marshmallows, the destruction of a town in fire, strange creatures with tentacles and orbs, and short creatures in metal suits that looked like potatoes. She saw Jenny, and giant wasps, skeletons moving around in space suits, a mysterious woman with a cryptic message, a beetle, and pepper pots moving about as if on wheels.

Most importantly, throughout all these memories, Donna saw the man in front of her. Donna saw the Doctor.

_The Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor!_

Donna gasped as the doors finally were flung open and her mind once again became hers. Her hand leapt to her chest, where her heart was racing as if it were to leap from her chest. For an endless moment, her head swam as she became accustomed to her memories, and the consciousness hidden amongst them. She felt Martha's hands on her arm, transmitting to her all the professional comfort of a Doctor but at the same time, the panic and worry of an inexperienced, concerned friend. The Doctor had also stepped towards her, and was peering intently into her face, repeating her name over and over: "_Donna? Donna, it's me. Donna? Donna?_", and her sharp eyes noticed that the rest of the ship's passengers had gravitated towards her as well. And over the Doctor's shoulder, Donna noticed Jack. He was staring at her with sad eyes filled with guilt about what he had done, and Donna wanted nothing more than to scream at him "_No! You did the right thing – don't let anyone tell you differently! I love you!"_.

But for the time being, Donna's voice refused to cooperate.

"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Sylvia screeched, grabbing onto the Time Lord's arm. He shook her off impatiently.

"She's in shock. She's remembered," the Doctor told her, gripping Donna's shoulders tighter, mulling as quickly as possible over his options.

Martha raised her hand to Donna's face, which was beginning to look flushed, and gasped at what she felt, "Doctor, she's burning up!"

"Oh God, Doctor, save her!" Wilfred exclaimed, trying to sooth Sylvia as best he could.

"Wipe her mind again, Doctor," Jack commanded suddenly, "There's nothing else for it."

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Jack, whose calm demeanour was betrayed by his grief-stricken, guilty eyes. He nodded curtly and turned back to his dear companion, and with a quiet apology, lifted his fingertips to her temples.

Donna's vocal chords suddenly decided to work, and she raised her hands with inhuman speed and grasped his wrists, his fingers just millimetres from her head. The Doctor froze, shocked, and Martha stepped away in surprise.

"Don't. You. Dare." Donna hissed at the Doctor, arching a brow defiantly. He gaped at her but complied, stepping back when she released his wrists.

"Donna…" he whispered, stunned, "I—I'm sorr—"

The Doctor's apology was cut off by a smack to the face, and he fell backwards into Rose, who staggered against the console.

"_Ow!_" the Doctor explained, "What the hell was that for?"

"What the hell do you think it was for?" Donna yelled in return, "You wipe my memory, you bugger off for months on end, and.. and.. _you wiped my flipping memory!_"

The Doctor gaped at her in a way akin to a fish; Donna shouldn't even be standing right now, let alone screaming at him with such passion. The Time Lord consciousness should be burning up her mind, which it was judging by the red tinge to Donna's cheeks. Or maybe that was just her rage.

"I had to!" he finally spluttered, "I couldn't watch you die, I couldn't lose you!"

"That was _my _choice, Doctor!" Donna snapped, watching as he struggled back onto his feet, "I told you I wanted to stay with you, and you went against my wishes! How could you disregard what _I _wanted, disregard what those memories meant to me, after _all _we went through?"

Suddenly she lurched into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and burying her head in his shoulder, sobbing. The Doctor, somewhat dumbfounded, folded her into his arms and held her close.

"I missed you." Donna told him, her admission muffled by his coat. The Doctor couldn't help but smile.

"You didn't even know I existed," he reminded her. Donna was silent for a moment, then pulled away and looked him in the eye, her face wet.

"I still missed you. I just didn't know it." she said, smiling through her tears.

"I missed you too," he grinned, pushing her hair back from her sweaty face. She was feverish.

The other occupants of the room watched the tender display, feeling slightly out of place. They had all been led to believe that Donna would die if she remembered, and yet she seemed more than healthy. As if on cue, Donna suddenly slumped in the Doctor's arms, her knees buckling, and the Doctor swiftly lowered her to the floor.

"_Donna_!" Jack exclaimed, running to her side and falling to his knees. He slid his arm under her back and helped her to a sitting position.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Rose asked, grabbing the Doctor's arm as he stood. He looked at her with frustrated, grieving eye

"She's burning up. She's dying." he said stiffly, his mouth trembling. Gwen turned into Ianto's arms and buried her head in his chest, whilst Martha stepped back and covered her crumbling face with her hands; Mickey put a comforting hand on her back.

"Save her, Doctor!" Wilf begged, holding his sobbing daughter, "Wipe her mind,"

"Bloody well try and I'll hit you again," whispered a delirious Donna, loud enough so that only Jack could hear. The Doctor swung around to Wilf.

"_I can't!_" he yelled, "I just _can't_! She wants to remember, Wilfred; I can't take that away from her again!"

Rose took his arm and hugged it firmly, offering what little comfort she could to her poor Time Lord. Wilf helplessly looked down at his suffering granddaughter, unable to think of everything to say.

"This is your fault!" Sylvia cried, pointing an accusing finger at Jack. Jack didn't even turn to face her, picturing her expression in his mind.

"I know," he muttered to himself, and Donna's wide blue eyes blinked up at him, condemning his guilt.

"If you hadn't brought her here! If you'd just left her with us, safe and sound—"

"He wasn't to know, Sylvie," Wilf shushed her.

Jack squeezed his eyes tight shut against Donna's imploring gaze, and she noticed a tear fall down his cheek.

"It's not your fault," she breathed.

"It is."

"It's not," she insisted, in a slightly louder whisper. Seeing his resolute expression, Donna chuckled slightly, fighting for breath. Suddenly her body was wracked with agony, and she tensed up, crying out and grasping at her chest, scrabbling at her blouse with her fingernails.

"Donna, what is it?" Jack asked. The Doctor frowned and stepped forward – this shouldn't be happening.

"It hurts!" Donna suddenly exclaimed, her voice louder and clearer than before, still struggling against Jack's hold.

"What hurts?" the Doctor asked, frown deepening.

Donna gripped tightly to her chest and suddenly stilled, with a wheezing gasp. Jack, and everybody else watched in awe as her body began to glow, a tentative deep gold at first before brightening and brightening, to yellow and finally to white, too bright to look at – Jack turned his face away, scrunching his eyes closed. Only the Doctor looked on, slack-jawed in horror.

When the light finally died down, and all the humans could once again turn their tear-stained, shocked faces back to Donna, she lay limp in Jack's arms. The redness in her cheeks was gone, and her skin was deathly pale. She was no longer hot, either – in fact, she felt cold to the touch. Everybody was silent, unsure what to say and too awed by what they had just seen. All they knew was that something strange had just happened in the room.

"Is she gone?" Wilf whispered hoarsely.

Jack was about to nod his head 'yes', feeling his eyes well up, when the Doctor answered for him.

"No." he breathed, "Not by a long shot."

Donna suddenly sat up in Jack's arms, her head thrown backwards as she drew in a deep breath. She gasped for air for a moment, her eyes still closed, before tilting her head forward again, breathing deeply.

"Donna…" Jack whispered, releasing his grip on her and sitting back on his haunches. Donna's eyes slid open, slowly and lazily, revealing that they were once again shrouded with gold mist, as they had been after the Weevil attack. She exhaled, releasing more of the mist, which quickly disappeared. Jack noticed her eyes returning to their normal colour, and he swallowed thickly.

"Doctor?"

"Jack."

Jack looked over his shoulder, "What the hell is going on?"

The Doctor sighed deeply, troubled.

"I have no bloody idea."

* * *

_Dah-da-daaaah! New chapter! Questions will be answered next time, of course :) and how could we forget about that mysterious signal? That will make a return too! _

_I won't go all review-whore on you and set a limit of reviews before I update, haha – but please feel free to drop a line or two, they do encourage me to write and I love to hear from you and hear your opinions on my stories :)_

_Beth x_


	28. Chapter 27

_Ahhhh, sorry it's been so long! I have had exams, and it has sucked ):_

_**In the time since I have updated, two rather über pieces of DW/TW/SJA news. First: David Tennant has a baby girl! With Georgia Moffat! Who plays… Jenny! Awk. Second: the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen has passed away :( R.I.P., you talented woman.**_

Disclaimer: "Doctor Who" isn't mine. Honestly. It's RTD's/Moffat's/the BBC's. Whoever owns it, s'not me. T_T

**(THE OPENING PART OF THIS CHAPTER IS A CONTINUATION OF JENNY'S TRIP INTO DONNA'S HEAD, FROM **_**– 21. Chapter 20 **_**– JUST SO YOU KNOW! :D)**

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 27

_"I'm here to watch over Donna, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, you, and all else the Doctor is connected to," the mysterious voice replied, its soothing voice making Jenny feel suddenly tired, "You must leave Donna Noble's mind soon; the first mental connection is rough on a young Time Lady,"_

_"How did you know?" Jenny exclaimed. The voice tutted._

_"I'm connected to you, remember? Through your father," it told her, "But first, I need to tell you the story of Donna Noble and her last adventure, and you must keep it to yourself. Torchwood may think it's top secret, but all walls have ears."_

_"Wait…" Jenny cut off the voice, shaking her head to clear it, "Why do you need to tell me? Why not go tell Jack, if you're connected to us all?"_

_"Because, you are the only person who can __protect __Donna," the voice exclaimed, "And her life is in more danger now then it ever has been, or ever will be."_

_Jenny was silent a moment, worried about the life of the woman she considered a mother. Finally, she uttered in a tiny voice, "Tell me everything."_

_There was a prolonged moment of silence, and Jenny – her mind foggy and sleepy – wondered if the voice had left her, or if it was a figment of her imagination. Then she felt a prod against her shoulder and she turned to come face to face with a woman. She was tall and slim, Jenny knew, but she was hard-pushed to describe her any other way – the woman had a face so __exquisite that Jenny could not quite comprehend it. She was still young and naïve, and Jenny didn't think she had seen such beauty since her dad had helped create a new world on Messaline. _

_ "Who are you?" Jenny asked, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. The woman gave her a smile. _

_ "I am a dear friend of Donna's, and the Doctor's," was the reply, "You will learn more when he returns to you,"_

_ "Dad? Dad's returning?"_

_ "Of course he will return! Give him time."_

_ Jenny shook her head, "No, no. I'm sorry – we need him here now. There's that, that… oh, what's the word… _signal_, that signal that Torchwood want him to figure out. And, I need him, I miss him. And Donna, we need to know what happened to them…"_

_ Jenny trailed off when she saw the woman's beautiful head shaking, "What is it?" _

_ The stranger's sad eyes turned on Jenny, "You force this knowledge on her, try to make her remember, and think you are helping her – but you are in fact doing the opposite."_

_ "The opposite?"_

_ "The truth about how she has spent the last years of her life will kill her, Jenny."_

_ Jenny gasped sharply, her mind suddenly awake and her mouth open in horror, "_Kill _her?" _

_ The woman reached out and pressed her hands to Jenny's cheeks, and Jenny instantly felt all the tension and shock melt out of her limbs and her knees sagged slightly, her face turning into the woman's soft touch._

_ "Worry not, sweet one," came her lyrical voice, "She will heal, in time, and she will be able to know, in time. But it is _not _time yet, you must let it come naturally – let her change."_

_"Into what?" _

_ "Sweet child… when Donna lost her memories, it was because she absorbed a Time Lord __consciousness__ during her and the Doctor's final adventure. A Time Lord mind in a human body can never work, so the Doctor had to hide her memories and, therefore, hide the consciousness. It was to keep her safe," _

_ Jenny's eyes slid from the woman to the eerily glowing door behind her. The woman nodded, "Behind there lie a lifetime of wonderful memories and a consciousness that will kill her," _

_ "But she can't live without the memories," Jenny whimpered, "What she's doing now – temping, trailing through life without achieving her best – is that living?" _

_ "Worry not, Jenny," the woman tutted, "The memories will return, once her body can accommodate the Time Lord mind. And that Donna – the temp, who trails through life without achieving her best – will die,"_

_ The woman tightened her grip around Jenny, and Jenny felt herself relax so much that she could not even bring herself to panic at the mention of dying. Instead, she hummed gently and casually asked, "Die? Not literally, you mean?" _

_ "Of course not. But there will be changes,"_

_ "And that's what you meant by, 'let her change'?" _

_ "Indeed. For now, let her sleep, let her change, and keep her safe from the members of Torchwood."_

_ "Until when? How do I know when she's ready?" _

_ Jenny could feel herself slipping into sleep when the woman brought her face close to hers and whispered, "When your father shows up, then she's ready,", before the Tardis kissed her and let Jenny return to consciousness._

* * *

Jenny stared, eyes wide, at Donna as the redhead's breathing slowly returned to normal. Everybody in the room was still and silent, save for Donna's gasps, when the Doctor suddenly let out a loud exclamation and fell back against the console, holding his head. Every eye in the room snapped to him, and Rose took his arm, worried.

"How is this possible?" the Doctor cried, his voice shriller than anybody had ever heard it.

"Doctor, what is it?" Jack demanded, preoccupied with Donna – his arms, of their own accord, had wrapped around her and held her close as she adjusted to her surroundings. Jack noticed that she was breathing slightly irregularly, and one of her hands was clutching at her shirt.

The Doctor didn't answer, and continued running his hands through his hair roughly, as though he would tug it all out.

"She should be dead. _She should be dead_!" the Doctor exclaimed finally. Donna scoffed from her position on the floor.

"Yeah, well, that's another thing you're wrong about," she mumbled. Donna's voice seemed to jar the Doctor out of his confusion and he stepped forward, reaching down and helping Donna to her feet as quickly as possible. Jack leapt up too and both he and Martha hovered nearby, arms poised to catch Donna if she fell. However, Donnas seemed perfectly balanced, and after a moment of wobbling and gripping onto the Doctor's coat, she stood on her own.

"How do you feel?" the Doctor asked, peering intently into her face.

"Fine." came the curt response.

"'Fine'? Just…'fine'?"

"Well, I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel!" Donna snapped, "You told me if I remembered anything, I'd die. But…"

"What creatures did we meet with Agatha Christie?"

"Vespiforms – the giant wasps."

"How did you stop the Daleks ending the universe?"

"Easy peasy! I closed all Z-Neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop," Donna said smugly. She paused for a moment and commented, "In hindsight, probably not clever of the all-knowing Dalek race to have a button that could do that…"

"Too right," the Doctor chuckled, before reaching into his coat and producing the sonic screwdriver, pressing it on and pointing it at Donna. Donna rolled her eyes and spread her arms wide, knowing exactly what he wanted to do. The Doctor ran the screwdriver through the air in front of her, scanning her.

Other than the whirring of the screwdriver, the Tardis was silent. Wilf and Sylvia sat on the chair, holding each other tightly and watching the events unfolding intently. Ianto and Mickey were leant against the bars, both staring into space, while Jack and Martha kept their positions behind Donna, still ready for her to fall. Rose stood with Jenny and Gwen, occasionally exchanging glances with them and sharing terse smiles. The Doctor suddenly pulled the sonic screwdriver close to his face, studied it for a moment, and then modified the settings slightly and pointing it toward Donna's chest; it made a slight whirring sound, then beeped loudly, making everyone jump.

"It can't be," the Doctor muttered, glaring at his device. Donna smiled sympathetically, as if she had just figured out what the Doctor had.

"Martha," she said, turning around and, without waiting for a response from the young doctor, she slipped the stethoscope around her neck off and handed it to the Doctor. Quickly, the Doctor stuck it in his ears before pressing the little paddle first to the left side of Donna's chest, then to the other side. Then back to the left side, and again to the right.

"This is impossible," he exclaimed, "How…can you…?"

"I felt the respiratory bypass system kick in when I woke up," Donna informed him, pressing her trembling hand to her chest, "But a binary vascular system too? Doctor, how is this possible…?"

The Doctor didn't respond, a large grin splitting across his face, "Donna Noble, you are _impossible_."

"What's going on?" Sylvia asked, in a shaky voice, "What's happened?"

The Doctor spun around to face her, announced, "Your daughter is _brilliant_!", and then turned back to Donna and swept her into a hug, laughing and chanting "Brilliant!" as he did so. Donna clung to him, although she shot Jack a baffled look over the Time Lord's shoulder. Jack grinned at her, although he wasn't a hundred per cent sure what was happening.

"Dad, you may have to elaborate a little," Rose told him, touching his arm and effectively ending his celebrating.

"Oh, of course!" the Doctor exclaimed, pulling back and looking at Donna, "You must be a bit confused?"

"Well, _duh_!"

"Yep, that's because I'm brilliant. You're brilliant… but I'm _more _brilliant!" the Doctor beamed, stepping away and leaning against the Tardis console, crossing his ankles and rubbing his hands together. Had he been closer, Donna would have slapped him.

"You absorbed a whole Time Lord consciousness from the regeneration energy. All of that energy, a whole consciousness, it would have been impossible to pull out of your head when I erased your mind… so I didn't."

"You didn't?" Donna frowned.

"No. Your memories were less erased and more… hidden. Picture a row of doors; behind your doors are all the memories you have."

Jenny took a sharp intake of breath that went unnoticed from the people around her, as she pictured the white room inside Donna's mind, and the doors that hid Donna's childhood behind them.

"When I erased your mind, Donna, I took all your memories of our time together, and put them behind their own door. A different door, a door you couldn't easily unlock on your own…"

The glowing gold door at the end of the row danced before Jenny's eyes, the door that wouldn't open and was hot to the touch.

"When I put the memories behind this door, the consciousness went with them and was locked away in the deep recess of your mind. I thought that it would lie there, dormant, for the rest of your life. How wrong I was,"

Donna arched an eyebrow.

"The consciousness didn't sit in your mind as I expected. Now that I had hidden it and made it dormant, the consciousness had time to spread throughout your body, undetected, and prepare you to retain it and all your memories without burning up. It modified your body, Donna, so you could uphold a Time Lord brain. When I hid your memories, I didn't subdue it… I just gave it _time_." the Doctor said, "When it was active in your mind, there was no time to change your physiology, so it was going to kill you. But now your physiology is changed…"

"What do you mean her physiology is changed?" Jenny asked in a croaky voice.

"Time Lord," Donna said quietly, "Not a Time Lord brain in a human body, but a Time Lord brain in a Time Lord body."

"A Time _Lady_," the Doctor corrected, "The Gallifreyan energy stimulated her system to produce a more Gallifreyan system, like the respiratory bypass system and the second heart."

"You have _two hearts_?" Gwen exclaimed. Donna nodded, pressing her hand to her chest with a grimace, "And I'm still getting used to it,"

"That'll pass," the Doctor informed her fondly.

"Well, at least I know why I've been getting those chest pains," Donna conceded with a nod to her mother, "And the head pains…"

"Whenever you got too close to unlock that door, your brain reacted to protect you,"

A comfortable silence fell, as everybody absorbed this new development. This silence was broken with a thump, as Wilf fainted out of his chair.


	29. Chapter 28

_Technically, I should be working on one of the many essays I ought to start this summer… but after reading over the criteria, I thought, "Stuff it! Fanfiction time!" :D_

_I'm sorry for the wait… again … but I'm a day shy of making you guys wait a month! Proud? Haha (:  
_  
_This may be my last chance to update for a while anyway, as on Wednesday I am off home to England for a while to tour universities o.o" scary stuff! I miss being a kid... I am still hoping that a letter will come through from Steven Moffat, asking me to come work at "Doctor Who" and I'll make a fortune that way. Then again, I'm also still waiting for my Hogwarts letter. Considering I'm 17 soon...doubtful._

_Anyway, I'll stop talking now ;) enjoy, and remember to review! Xx_

Disclaimer: Totally not mine – although I'd gladly take it off the BBC's hands?

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 28

Donna knelt on the Tardis floor beside her grandfather, his head resting in her lap. The console room was deserted, except for them – Martha and the Doctor were in the nearest library, bickering about the superiority of Time Lord physiology to human physiology while the Doctor wrote down the newest developments of Donna's case (although the probability of another case like it is very low). Jenny had gone with them, clinging onto the Doctor's arm adoringly, as if she would lose him again if she let him out of her sight, while Ianto had escorted Rose, Gwen, Mickey, and Sylvia into Torchwood to have a drink. Jack had disappeared too, but Donna did not know where he had gone.

Wilfred was still unconscious, although Donna was sure it was nothing more serious than shock. She pressed her cool hand to his cheek and smiled fondly at her gramps. It was a lot to take in, and nobody knew it better than she. Donna still felt weird, having two heartbeats, and she dreaded to think what other changes had been made. The respiratory bypass system kicking in meant that she could go longer periods without breathing, the Doctor had said, but Donna still breathed like her life depended on it, in the hope that it would calm the beats of her hearts.

Could she regenerate now? The Doctor said that she had released regenerative energy upon regaining consciousness, but did that mean she could go the full whack and change faces? Donna had a whole Time Lord library of knowledge in her brain, but there was nothing about a human – Time Lord conversion in it. A voice that sounded suspiciously like the Doctor's told her that that's because a human – Time lord conversion is _impossible_. Yet here she sat, caring for her human grandfather – a daughter of humans had become a Time Lord.

Donna frowned slightly, wondering for the first time if she was as impossible as the Doctor said.

Suddenly, the door to the Tardis swung open and Jack stepped in, carrying two mugs of tea, "Donna?"

"Over here!" Donna called, from her position the other side of the Tardis console. Jack made his way over to her and lowered himself to the grating beside her, handing her a mug, "How's Wilf doing?"

"Still out like a light." Donna sighed, "He'll be okay though, other than the surprise,"

"Well…it was a pretty _big _surprise,"

The redhead chuckled, taking a sip of tea, "Yeah, you don't have to tell me,"

Jack watched her for a moment, sipping his own drink momentarily, before saying, "I think I need to apol—"

"You don't," Donna cut him off, "_Please_ don't."

"I nearly killed you," Jack said, earnestly, "If it weren't for me, your life never would have been in danger."

"If it weren't for _you_, the Doctor may never have realised this was possible!" Donna exclaimed, gesturing to herself, "I could have lived on Earth, unwittingly a Time Lord, for the rest of my life,"

Stubbornly, Jack shook his head, "The Doctor would have sensed you as soon as the transformation was complete, and he'd've come for you. Without my meddling, you could have been saved without all the danger I put you in."

Donna shrugged, looking away from Jack, "Conceivable. But mine is the first case of it's time – there's no way to know that my condition would have become detectable without me being tuned in to my memories,"

Jack frowned as he racked his brains for an answer to that. After a moment, Donna looked up at him and, seeing his confusion, smiled.

"Don't beat yourself up, Jack. I wouldn't change what happened for the world," she confessed, moving her hand from Wilfred's forehead into Jack's hand. He clutched at it tightly, looking down at their entwined fingers. He suddenly raised them to his cheek, pressing her hand against his face and meeting her gaze.

"Good," he said seriously, before his face breaking into a grin, "'Cos neither would I,"

Donna beamed at him, running her thumb along his cheekbone.

"So, Time Lady, huh?" Jack asked conversationally. Donna nodded, her eyes fixed on their hands still, where his was holding hers to his cheek.

"It's weird," she admitted with a smile, "Not even an hour ago, I was a boring old human. Now I'm an _alien_!"

Donna laughed quietly to herself, the concept still difficult to grasp. Jack smirked at her, "Speaking as a well-travelled man, you are the best looking alien I've ever seen,"

Donna quickly removed her hand from Jack's cheek and playfully smacked his shoulder, "_Jack_!"

"What?"

"My grandfather's right here," Donna exclaimed, motioning towards Wilfred with her head.

"He's _asleep_!"

"Still –"

"Oh, please, stop."

Donna and Jack jumped and turned to see the Doctor, Jenny and Martha standing at the entrance to the console room. Jenny and Martha looked amused, while the Doctor wore an extremely pained expression.

"That was getting borderline _unbearable_," the Doctor groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"They've been at it ever since Donna arrived," Martha added unhelpfully with a cheeky grin, earning giggles from Jenny and death glares from the two blushing people on the floor. As if on cue, Wilfred stirred in Donna's arms, moaning slightly.

"Gramps, are you okay?" Donna asked, turning her attention back to him. Martha slipped past the Doctor and Jack to offer Donna her help, while Jack set down his mug and stood up.

"While they're sorting out Wilf, I need you to come help me with something, Doc," Jack said, dusting himself down.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, interested.

"They've detected a mysterious signal on their computers, Dad," Jenny stepped in, "They've been trying to trace it for a while, as well as figure out what it is, but so far, no luck,"

"Okay, let's get cracking!" the Doctor grinned, gesturing for Jack and Jenny to leave the Tardis. He turned back to pick his trench coat off the console and gave Doctor a jokingly stern look.

"You're a Time Lady now," he said with a wicked grin, "I assure you, you can do better!"

"Sod off."

The Doctor laughed and ran after Jack and Jenny, curious as to what this mysterious signal could be.

* * *

_You don't think I'd forget about the signal, do you? Nuh-uh ;) What (or who…) do you think is at the other end of the signal? :o Anyway, I'm sorry this chapter was so boring…definitely a filler, here! I will hopefully have another chapter very soon – I have plane journeys ahead of me, what better pastime than writing Fanfiction? Haha :)_

_Please take a moment or two to leave a review! Thank you :D_


	30. Chapter 29

_Disclaimer:__ Doctor Who is the property of the BBC, not mine, etc etc.  
Sorry for the wait – I've been in England and Stockholm and New York, I've had my birthday (seventeen, woot!) and I've just been a bit swamped. I am back now though, and inspired! :)  
(I also went to see DT and CT in "Much Ado About Nothing", but that's neither here nor there...-coughITWASAMAZINGcoughcough-)_

* * *

**Remembering  
**Chapter 29

Martha and Donna had helped Wilfred back onto his feet and out into the Torchwood hub, just in time to see the Doctor slide into Mickey's chair beside Jack, eyeing up the computer. The fuzzy signal was projecting through speakers either side of the machine, and the screen still showed the red block letters revealing how much time they had left – two days.

"It was five last time I looked!" Jenny wailed as Donna set Wilfred in a chair beside his daughter. Donna gave him an affectionate kiss on the head, and squeezed Sylvia's hand, before slipping forward to stand beside Jack.

"The ship must have sped up," the Captain growled, taping the keyboard, irritated, "But the signal still isn't clear enough to decipher."

The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pressing the tip of it close to the speakers. Jack scowled darkly, but visibly relaxed when he felt Donna's hands on his shoulders, her chin resting on his head. Removing one hand from the keyboard, Jack put it on his shoulder took hold of hers, squeezing her fingers.

"Come on, you beauty," the Doctor muttered darkly, changing the settings on his screwdriver before trying to scan again.

"Try the third setting, Spaceman," Donna suggested, nudging him with her free hand.

"I think I know what setting to use, Earthgirl," he responded, shooting Donna a look.

"Well, it's not working is it? _Spaceman_."

The Doctor stopped working and turned to face her fully, frowning like a petulant child. Donna fixed him with a hard gaze, and there was a tense silence as their audience watched them. Then, without looking down at it, the Doctor changed the settings on his screwdriver again and pointed them at the speakers, whirring it once more. Almost instantly, the signal began to clear. Donna smirked smugly.

"Lucky guess." the Doctor snapped, "And I would have figured it out,"

"Of course you would've," Donna cooed, patting his arm. The Doctor forced himself not to smile back at her, instead turning his attention back to the speakers, which had fallen deathly silent.

"What happened?" Gwen asked.

"Is it gone?" Rose demanded.

"Or did you break it?" Ianto suggested.

The Doctor tactfully ignored Ianto's input and tapped the speaker with his sonic. Instantly, the noise restarted again, this time clear as day – a deep voice was heard, speaking in an unknown language. The words were short and sharp, full of vowels and pronounced in an almost sing-song way.

"I can't understand it," he said slowly, unaware of Donna stepping away from him. Nor was he aware of the Doctor stumbling back, away from the speakers.

"Nor can I," Rose added, "I thought the Tardis translated every language for me?"

"What's going on?" Jack asked, turning to face the Doctor. He had stepped into the middle of the room, and Donna was beside him, grasping his hands. Both Time Lords had gone deathly pale, their mouths agape as they stared at the speaker.

"Impossible," the Doctor breathed.

"Doctor," Donna stammered, turning to look at him, "T-they shouldn't be _alive_. I thought you—"

"I _did_!" he cried, turning to face her and grasping her shoulders, "I don't know how this happened! _I_ _did_!"

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Jenny asked, stepping forward, "How do you understand them and we don't? What are they?"

The Doctor ignored her, releasing Donna and running back to the Tardis. Donna saw the panic in Jenny's eyes and pulled her firmly into a hug.

"It's alright, my sweet," she soothed, before turning her attention to the rest of her audience; Jack had moved to stand with Wilfred, Sylvia, Rose, Martha, Ianto , Gwen and Mickey.

"The aliens sending out that signal are a race the Doctor has met before," Donna said gently, "They are called the Okoquians, from the planet _Okofe Quintus_."

"He's met them before?" Mickey said, "Then he's defeated them – we should be able to..."

"I have met them before," the Doctor announced, emerging from the Tardis while pulling his coat on, "And I said then that I never – _never, ever, ever_ – wanted to meet them again."

He stopped beside Donna, straightening his collar, "And I'd appreciate it if you'd let me tell my own stories, okay? Stop sniffing through my memories!"

"My memories, now," Donna reminded him, releasing Jenny. The Doctor offered a half-smile, but was too troubled to do anymore.

"The Okoquians are a very small race, but with huge ambition to grow. Unfortunately, the race are largely dominated by males," he elaborated, "They are humanoids, and one of the few races in this solar system compatible with human beings. Since they see humans as a lesser species, their aim is to take over control of planet Earth and use human females to procreate."

A heavy silence fell over the hub, as its occupants processed this horrific information. The silence was broken by Mickey.

"So...there's a species of aliens on its way, bent on taking over the world and turning us into sex slaves?" he clarified.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "At its basest level of this disaster, _yes_."

Another silence fell. And then...

"_Gross!_" Gwen squealed.

"That's like the plot of a bad eighties sci-fi movie!" Ianto complained.

"A film Jack probably would have starred in," Rose muttered cheekily, earning a glare from the man in question.

"I'll have you know that my movie career was filled with only the best quality films," he joked.

"I don't think you guys quite get how serious this is!" Donna suddenly exclaimed, her voice ricocheting around the room. Everybody fell silent, and Donna swung around to the Doctor.

"_Tell them_." she commanded.

He sighed , "The Okoquians are notoriously hard to stop. It is their most base need to further their lineage, and they were hell bent on using the humans when I met them. No amount of bargaining would stop them. In order to stop them the last time I met them, I had to destroy their planet."

"Their _planet_?" Wilfred cried, "That's like...that's genocide!"

The Doctor swallowed thickly, averting his gaze from the horrified old man. Donna took his hand and squeezed it affectionately.

"It was just after the Time War, just after he'd blown up his planet, when he was full of anger and rage and war," she revealed, "Just a couple of weeks before he met you,"

She nodded at Rose, smiling, "And you fixed him; you made him better,"

Rose felt a blush rising on her cheeks, and she grinned shyly, ducking her head.

"What do we do now?" Jack asked, folding his arms, "How are they back?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, raising his head, "I don't know how they are back, but if they are, then the Earth is in serious danger."

"Why can't we understand them?" Rose pressed, "The Tardis translation..."

"Last time, I landed on the planet with the Tardis. They must have remembered it's stamp, and made sure their language was immune to its translation system,," the Doctor hypothesized, "I can understand them because it's in my head, which means it's in Donna's too,"

"How can we stop them?" Jenny said, "You must have some weapons in your ship,"

"No weapons," the Doctor growled, "I learnt my lesson last time – we're going to try and negotiate with the Okoquians,"

"You said they were non-negotiable," Gwen reminded.

"Yes, but last time I wasn't in a negotiable mood myself – I was bitter, resentful, and blood-thirsty. This time, I'm a whole new man,"

The Doctor suddenly grinned, "We need to get on that ship,"

"How?" Sylvia exclaimed.

"The Tardis," Donna leapt in, "Torchwood have got the Okoquian's approximate location, and using the Tardis we can lock on and land,"

"Perfect," the Doctor responded, handing her the screwdriver. Donna ran to the computer and set about finding the coordinates.

The Doctor turned to the Captain and beckoned him over. Martha, Mickey, Ianto, Gwen, Jenny, Sylvia and Wilfred sat silently, unsure of what to do.

"Jack, Donna and I will go – everyone else stays here,"

Instantly the crowd of people in the hub burst into life.

"You can't leave me here –" Rose cried.

"You're not taking Donna and not me!" Jack snapped.

"I'm not staying behind –" Martha exclaimed.

"I want to help—" Mickey stated.

"I'm a Time Lord too, I can go!" Jenny told him.

"You're not taking our little girl onto that ship without us!" Wilfred seethed.

The Doctor groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "_Shut. Up_."

Eight mouths closed reluctantly, and the Doctor raised his head, grinding his teeth together.

"Wilfred and Sylvia, there's no way I'm taking you two onto that ship. You're not used to this. Martha, Ianto, Gwen, I need you guys to stay here and let us know if anything _else_ happens here, and Mickey, Jack, you need to protect them all. Jenny – you may be a Time Lady but you are far too young and gun happy. _You're staying_. And as for you, Rose – there's no way I'm letting you up there, it's far too unsafe. That goes for you all - _it's unsafe_. If it all goes wrong up there, then you have the weapons down here to destroy the ship, I assume?" – Jack nodded weakly at the Doctor – "Good. Donna and I can regenerate. We'll also have the Tardis, we'll be fine. Happy?"

"No," was the general response. The Doctor gritted his teeth.

"In my time with many of you, you have seen some awful things," he reminded them, "Daleks, Cybermen, the Master, Vashta Nerada; the list goes on. But let me tell you that the Okoquians are as bad as any of these. They have only one thing on their minds, and they want it. They are not dissimilar to humans, but they don't have the ability to think further than their most primal instincts, they don't have morals or a code of conduct. They plan on taking over this planet and turning it into a breeding ground, using the women of Earth and slaughtering the men who try and get in their way. Think about your mothers, your sisters, your cousins, your nieces, your daughters. Think about _yourselves_. I am the one person who can stop them, because I know how they are and I'm a Time Lord. I don't blip on their radar, and neither will Donna now. And with her knowledge, that makes her the second best person for the job. The Okoquians may be willing to talk to us until they realise our intentions. Then, they may try to kill us. They _have _tried to kill me, in the past. But please, understand why I am nervous for all of you, and at the first sign of trouble, end it. Okay?"

Nobody responded. The Doctor was met with a deathly silence, as the seriousness of the situation sunk in. The Doctor gestured towards Donna, before beginning to stride back to the Tardis. Jack caught his sleeve quickly, "Wait, Doc,"

"Oh, what is it now?" the Doctor asked, exasperated.

"I can't die," he said, "Take me,"

"We never know if your next death is going to be the last," the Doctor said, "I want you to stay here and do what you've been doing for a long time – defend the planet,"

"Fine, I'll stay," Jack seethed, "But please, don't take Donna."

"_Excuse me_?" Donna exclaimed, spinning away from the desk to stare accusingly at Jack. Jack groaned, having forgotten how good her new Time Lord hearing was.

"If it is half as dangerous as the Doctor says it is, then chances are something bad is going to happen. I think you should stay here, where it's safe,"

"I don't think so," Donna laughed condescendingly, advancing forward, "You heard what the Doctor _also_ said – I'm a Time Lord now too. I can regenerate too."

"How can you be sure of that?" Jack asked, desperately, "Human-Time Lord metacrisis – it's never happened before,"

"That's a good point," Wilfred agreed. Donna scowled, affronted, "I have Time Lord physiology now – why wouldn't I regenerate?"

"Look, Donna," Jack said, stepping forward and taking hold of her shoulders, "Look at me,"

Stubbornly, Donna averted her gaze, looking to the Doctor for support. Jack took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him, "Listen,"

Relenting, Donna looked into Jack's eyes, and could see his fear for her there.

"I don't want you getting hurt." Jack said lowly, "I don't care if you regenerate, I don't care if you live and change your face. But I will not forgive myself if you are hurt, and I let it happen."

Donna's breath caught in her throat, now unable to look away from Jack's eyes. Behind him, the Doctor rolled his eyes and ran an agitated hand through his hair.

"You can stay down here, Donna," he announced, "I just need to get a move on, _now_!"

When he got no immediate answer, he stormed into the Tardis, leaving the doors open. Inside, he began fiddling with the controls, setting it up for travel.

"Donna?" Jack said, pleadingly.

Wordlessly, Donna clasped the lapels of his shirt and pulled him to her, pressing her lips to his. Jack responded instantly, his arms wrapping around her midsection as his mouth moved against hers. Donna's lips parted easily for him, allowing him to deepen the kiss. The remaining occupants of the room averted their gaze; it seemed the lovers no longer registered they were there.

Too caught up in the kiss, Jack didn't notice Donna rearranging them, turning until her back was to the Tardis and her hands bracing against his chest. In one swift move, she broke apart from him and pushed Jack away, quickly turning and fleeing into the ship.

"Donna!" Jack cried, advancing toward the blue box. Donna stopped and turned in the doorway, halting Jack when he saw her wet eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, before slamming the doors.

"_Go_!" she barked at the Doctor, throwing him the sonic screwdriver.

"Donna—" the Doctor began.

"You are not doing this on your own!" Donna snapped, "Just GO."

* * *

Furious, Jack leapt towards the Tardis, banging on its doors.

"_Donna_! Don't do this!" he yelled, dread taking him over as the ship began to dematerialize.

"Jack, don't!" Martha exclaimed, pulling him back. She recalled their first meeting, how he had died clinging onto the outside of the Tardis, and she wouldn't let him do that again.

"Let me go!" Jack snarled, but Ianto and Mickey were holding him back too, and he could only watch, helpless, as the blue box disappeared.

With a wordless roar, Jack broke free of his captors and, in a rage, kicked over the chair that, not an hour ago, he had sat on, revelling in the feel of Donna's hands on his shoulders and her chin on his head. His friends could only watch as Jack fled upstairs to his office.

Meanwhile, the Tardis landed with a thump. The Doctor glanced over at Donna, who had been silent for basically the whole trip.

"Are you ready?" he asked nervously. Donna looked up, scrubbing her face.

"I am," she said, "Are you?"

The Doctor didn't answer, instead holding out a hand to her. She smiled at him and took it, and they both turned towards the door.

"Earlier," Donna said, her voice trembling, "You said we'd be fine because we have the Tardis and we're Time Lords. Did you mean it?"

The Doctor groaned, "You have the same mind as me now – do you need me to say it?"

Donna looked up at him, her blue-green eyes sparkling, and the Doctor saw that glimmer of human in her, the human that made the DoctorDonna so special, and he saw that she was as frightened as he was, "Yes, I do,"

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't know,"

Donna nodded, looking away from him and accepting this information. With a quiet "Come on", she led him towards the Tardis doors.

* * *

_Sorry for the long chapter... and all of the information in one go O.O I promise to update sooner next time! And I also haven't done a "Next Time" in a while sooo.. here you go! =_

**Next Time:**

_Rose opened her mouth to say something, when they heard a thump and a crash and somebody cry out in pain from the other side of the cog door. She huddled closer to Gwen as all eyes turned towards the door. A moment later, it began to open, the alarms blaring. Jenny cocked her gun and pointed it towards the opening entrance. _

"_Jenny, the Doctor wouldn't like that," Martha reminded her._

"_Dad's not here, is he?" Jenny hissed._

"_No, but she is," Ianto said, pointing towards the entrance just as Donna Noble staggered through, clutching her side._

"_Donna!" Sylvia exclaimed, running to her daughter and trapping her in a hug, supporting her. Donna was breathing heavily, and looked somewhat dazed as her mother helped her down the stairs into the main hub._

"_Are you alright?" Mickey asked, "What happened?"_

"_Are you okay, Donna, my love?" Wilfred asked, smoothing her hair back from her face._

"_Where's Jack?" Gwen asked, "What happened?" _

_Donna opened her mouth, her brows knitting together as she tried to formulate words. The trip had given her a head rush, and she had knocked her forehead when she'd landed. Suddenly, the events of just a few moments ago flashed through her mind._

'_**Marry me.'**_


	31. Chapter 30

_Hello! Sorry for the wait, although I am improving… a little. ;) _

_I can't believe we're on Chapter 30! I know I've been writing this for a while now but… geez! I think this may be one of my longest Fanfictions… ever! :) Second only to "Human Nature" right now…_

_Disclaimer__: I own nothing. If I did own "Doctor Who" (which, BBC, if you're reading this – a) Why the hell are you reading this? And b) Can I own it pleeease? I'll treat Matt REAL nice.), there would be a lot more fangirling going on, and the odd sex crazed alien. Oh. Oh, I see why they don't want me owning it. Yikes._

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 30

Donna Noble and the Doctor stepped out of the Tardis, into the Okoquian spaceship. They appeared to have landed in a long, silver corridor that stretched on a long way before them, but upon peering behind the blue box Donna saw it veered off sharply to the left. She swallowed.

Donna herself had never had any contact with the Okoquians – but she had the Doctor's mind now, and she could remember the race's determination, their bloodlust and she could remember how terrified the Doctor had been then. She could feel it even now, coming off him in waves, their hands still joined. And she tried to offer him the most reassuring smile she could, which probably wasn't very reassuring but it did the trick. The Doctor smiled back.

"Come on," he said gently, tugging her hand and leading her down the seemingly endless corridor. They continued on their mission in silence – both were using their keen senses of hearing to detect movement, any sign that the Okoquians were going to ambush them.

Donna took a deep breath, clenching her free hand tightly as her dual heartbeats hammered erratically in her chest, out of sync and so loud she could've sworn both the Doctor and all the other occupants of the ship could hear them. She had yet to adjust to the bizarre feeling, and occasionally she was left a little light-headed from all the changes in her body. She kept quiet though – the Doctor was worried enough already, and needed her support.

The Doctor, meanwhile, was on edge, barely noticing his companion although he had noticed her aberrant breathing. While concerned, he was somewhat occupied by the fact that there were heaven knows how many aliens on board this vessel that would happily rip them both limb from limb if rubbed the wrong way. Which is why the Doctor knew – for Donna's sake, for his friends' sake, his daughter's sake and his love's sake – that he could only give them one chance. He had to be firm, and let them know that invading this planet would not happen on his watch. He briefly considered alerting the Shadow Proclamation, but they'd be no help – probably simply say that the Okoquians had every right to attempt to continue their species' lineage, the Doctor thought cynically.

Both Time Lords were so caught up in their own thoughts, that neither heard the arrival of an Okoquian foot soldier until a large, armoured figure stepped into the corridor from a side-door, immediately turning towards them and pointing the large gun it held at them.

"_Halt_."

Donna couldn't subdue a yelp of surprise, automatically clutching closer to the Doctor. He tightened his hold on her, gently pushing her back so he stood in front, guarding her.

"_Intruders. State your names and intent._"

The Okoquian had a deep, foreboding voice, and towered above both Donna and the Doctor, perhaps nine or ten feet tall. It was covered completed in black metallic armour, with a yellow visor and its silver gun still pointing at them. Physically, it resembled humanoid, except for the third leg and – Donna noticed – only two fingers and a thumb.

At the command, she felt the Doctor stiffen his shoulders and release her, before advancing towards the soldier. Its gaze raked over Donna briefly, before turning to the Doctor.

"_Humans?_" it asked. There was a beat of silence, before the Doctor barked a laugh, making Donna jump.

"Why don't you scan us?" he asked, "Both of us. Come on, come on, come on! You must have a scanner in that suit!"

Lowering the gun fractionally, the Okoquian pressed a finger of its right hand to a button on its left. A panel of armour slid back to reveal the scanner beneath, which was then pointed at the Doctor and switched on.

After a long moment, it beeped, at which point Donna was beckoned over and the same process repeated. The Doctor clutched her arm throughout, both afraid that she might skitter away from the soldier and enrage it, and that the process of her becoming a Time Lord may not be entirely complete, and the scan would come up as human after all. He needn't of worried about her running from the Okoquian – Donna stood her ground, staring defiantly into its visor; the only sign that she was terrified was the slight trembling of her mouth.

The scanner beeped again, and the Okoquian finally tore its gaze away from them. The results transfixed it for a long moment, before it took up its gun again and jabbed it furiously in the Doctor's direction.

"_Time Lord._" it snarled, the hatred in its voice unmissable. Surprisingly, the Doctor smirked.

"Remember me, hmm?" he asked, cocking his head slightly.

"_We have been waiting a long time to meet another Time Lord._" the soldier jabbed the gun again, narrowly missing hitting the Doctor's head. Donna quickly ducked out the way, pressing against the metal wall, "_Our home planet was destroyed by one of your wretched kind!_"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Yeah, that would've been me."

With a roar, the Okoquian threw its gun aside and lunged at the Doctor. Before it could grab him, however, it fell heavily to one side, before finally collapsing to the floor, groaning. After a moment of staring at it, the Doctor finally deemed the Okoquian not dead, but passed out.

He turned his gaze to Donna, who was standing, holding one of her shoes in her lifted hand.

"Seems the Okoquians have been taking armour advice from the Sontarans," she squeaked, shocked, "A probic vent, back of the neck?"

"Not quite the same probic vent – the Sontarans got nutrients through theirs. The Okoquians don't build ventilators into their ships, so they have a converter in their armour and that vent on their necks feeds them their version of oxygen. You deprived him of it just long enough to knock him unconscious. You _brilliant_ woman, you!" the Doctor beamed, pulling Donna into a hug which she immediately returned. They clung to each other for a while, both laughing in relief.

"That was terrifying!" Donna cried, "I thought it'd kill you. Did you have an escape route?"

"Not at all," the Doctor laughed; Donna could feel him trembling, "Thank goodness for you, Donna Noble. I'm all right – _we're_ all right,"

"For now."

The Doctor gave a shuddering breath, pressing his face into Donna's hair. She squirmed slightly, until he released her just enough to let her look into his face. She could see in his eyes a total reluctance to be here – a wish to go home, and let Jack and his Torchwood team dispose of the Okoquians the way they knew how. With their big weapons.

Donna also knew the Doctor couldn't do that – he couldn't let the entire ship been blown to smithereens without giving them the chance to see the error in their ways, to turn back before it was too late. He had done the same previously, when they'd met after the Time War – they had refused then, and the Doctor had acted.

"We don't have much time," the Doctor said gently, interrupting her reverie, "That scanner will be connected to every Okoquian soldier on the ship, they all will know Time Lords are on board."

"We can't go anywhere without raising all the alarms, can we?" Donna huffed jokingly.

"Not us," the Doctor grinned. Donna returned the smile, but barely a moment later her knees gave out and she slumped into the Doctor's arms, the erratic breathing he had noticed earlier now completely out of control.

"_Donna_!" he exclaimed, lowering her to the floor, "Donna, are you all right? Can you hear me?"

Suddenly there was a flash of white light.

* * *

Bursting into his office with a shout, Jack leapt towards his desk, ignoring the unmade bed in the corner which he knew would smell of Donna if he pressed his nose into the sheets. Rifling through the papers and objects on his desk, he groaned in frustration when he couldn't find what he was searching for. Finally, having gone through all the drawers, Jack found his vortex manipulator, lying unused. After the Dalek Crucible episode, the Doctor had disabled it, but over the two months before Donna came to him, he and Mickey had worked on fixing it. It probably wasn't able to travel him between worlds anymore, but perhaps it would be enough to get him to Donna.

Triumphantly wielding it, Jack ran back into the main hub, making a beeline for the computer and the coordinates on it.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Gwen asked, eyeing her frazzled boss. Marta was the first to notice the vortex manipulator in his hands.

"No, Jack, you can't!" she exclaimed, stepping forward and attempting to grab it from him. Jack expertly dodged her grabbing hands, imputing the coordinates.

"Why, what's he doing?" Wilf asked, staring at the black object.

"He's going to teleport to the ship!" Martha seethed, folding her arms, "Which is a _ridiculous _idea – it's dangerous!"

Jack finally looked up at her, meeting her gaze and seeing the disapproval and fear in them.

"You're in charge while I'm gone," he told her, fingers finding the button on his manipulator, "I'm sorry,"

"Jack—"

He pushed the button, and never heard the end of Martha's sentence.

* * *

Jack landed with a thump on the floor, unable to bite back a groan of pain. Giving himself a moment for his head to stop spinning, he lay on the ground a moment, breathing deeply.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Jack sat up suddenly, still seeing stars, and turned his head. The Doctor was kneeling on the floor, staring in shock at Jack. Beside him sat Donna, her hands pressed to her mouth in horror. He recognized the voice as hers.

"Jack!" Donna exclaimed, "You can't be here – it's not safe."

"I am going to throw that vortex manipulator into a black hole," the Doctor seethed, shaking his head.

Jack noticed that he had an arm wrapped tightly around Donna, and for the first time he saw how pale her face was. Instantly he was on his knees, having dropped the vortex manipulator, and crawled towards her.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly, lifting his hands to her face and searching it imploringly, "What's wrong? You don't look well. Has something happened?"

Donna wrapped her arms around Jack's neck, pulling him close, "You're an idiot, a bloody idiot; you should be home where you're safe!"

"I couldn't stay there – not when you're here," he told her in her ear, clinging tightly to her. Donna sobbed into his shoulder. Unnoticed, the Doctor backed away, getting to his feet and scooping up the abandoned vortex manipulator.

"I love you!" Donna gasped suddenly, tightening her arms around the Captain. Before Jack could respond, she sagged against him, breathing heavily.

"Donna!" he cried, pulling back and seeing her eyes half-closed, her face flushing, "Babe, what's wrong?"

The Doctor stepped forward, concerned, and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Before he could scan her, however, her mouth fell open and she shakily gasped out a ball of golden mist.

"What's happening?" Jack asked in panic. The Doctor slowly pulled his sonic screwdriver away from her, humming in understanding.

"It's the regeneration energy," he revealed quietly, "It's not quite complete, the change into a Time Lady. She needs time, and rest, or she'll just fall comatose until it's over with."

"What do we do?" Jack asked.

"The only thing we can do," the Doctor sighed, tenderly picking up Donna's wrist and strapping on the vortex manipulator.

Suddenly, they heard an intercom switch on above them – all Jack heard was more of the alien language, although the Doctor understood:

_Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Two Time Lords from Gallifrey – find them, and bring them to the Commander._

"We haven't got much time!" the Doctor moaned, already hearing troops mobilizing in corridors around them, "I will go and see if I can buy you some time – tell her what's happening, send her back, and come and find me,"

Jack nodded in agreement, not taking his eyes off the stirring Donna. The Doctor watched them for a moment, fighting a small smile, before running off.

"Jack?" Donna whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and lifting a shaky hand to rub at her face. He pulled her closer, beaming at her.

"I'm here," he told her softly, "But you have to go back soon, back to Cardiff, so you can rest. Okay?"

Donna opened her eyes, and met his gaze, "I'm not going without you."

Jack stopped her with a kiss.

"You have to – the regeneration still isn't over," he told her afterwards, "But I promise I'm gonna be back soon for you,"

Jack saw reluctance acceptance dawn on Donna's face, and she nodded.

"Okay," she muttered. Jack gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"I love you too," he told her with a grin. Donna's eyes widened in surprise.

_What. Did. He. Just. Say?_

Then she remembered what she had said before she'd passed out, and a blush crept up over her cheeks, and she tried to duck her face, to hide, but Jack wouldn't let her, still grinning at her.

After a while, Donna rolled her eyes.

"Quite right to." she told him with a smirk. Jack laughed, before kissing her again.

"I have to go," he said when he pulled away, "And so do you,"

Donna groaned in frustration, and to her horror felt tears well up in her eyes. Jack pressed a kiss to her forehead, feeling overwhelmed with his feelings for this gorgeous woman.

Before he could stop himself, he leant his cheek against hers and whispered in her ear:

"Marry me."

Donna pulled back sharply, "What?"

"Marry me!" Jack repeated, stronger and more self-assured this time, although that diminished more and more with Donna's shocked expression. The sound of troops was getting closer, loud footsteps, and through the wall, they faintly heard the Doctor's voice.

"You have to go," Jack told her crossly, moving Donna's finger to the button. She continued to stare at him, barely noticing her poised hand.

Jack stood up and backed away, taking one long last look at Donna.

"I'll see you soon," he told her, forcing a smile onto his lips, "Just push the button,"

Donna finally snapped out of her reverie, looking down at the vortex manipulator and preparing herself to go back to Earth. But she couldn't leave without…

"I will," she breathed, looking back up at Jack.

"What?" he asked, distracted. Then what she'd said sank in, and he turned surprised eyes back on her. He had barely done this when she disappeared in a flash.

* * *

"Where has he gone?" Sylvia exclaimed, gripping onto her dad.

"The ship." Jenny said crossly, rooting around in Gwen's desk drawers.

"He's an idiot," Martha seethed, leaning back against Mickey, "He's going to get himself killed. _Again_."

"He's not an idiot," Rose corrected softly, smiling at Wilf and Sylvia, "He's gone after the woman he loves."

Wilf beamed back at the blonde and reached out, taking Rose's hand. Rose gripped back, grinning widely. She liked the older gentleman.

"Well, we are the protectors of the Earth for now," Ianto said, "You all heard the Doctor – if it all goes pear-shaped, we have to destroy the ship."

"Too right!" Jenny exclaimed from where she was crouched on the ground, having found what she was looking for in one of Gwen's drawers, "And just in case anything gets in here…"

She stood up, switching the safety off of Gwen's gun.

"Oh my God!" Sylvia exclaimed, leaping in front of her dad and Rose.

"Jenny, put that down!" Martha exclaimed, "Your father—"

"Dad's gone," Jenny reminded her.

"But Jenny, come on." Rose said gently, moving towards the younger blonde, "He wouldn't…"

"We have to defend ourselves. I know he doesn't believe in them, but they do a pretty good job of protection." Jenny insisted.

Rose opened her mouth to say something, when they heard a thump and acrash and somebody cry out in pain from the other side of the cog door. She huddled closer to Gwen as all eyes turned towards the door. A moment later, it began to open, the alarms blaring. Jenny cocked her gun and pointed it towards the opening entrance.

"Jenny, the Doctor wouldn't like that," Martha reminded her.

"Dad's not here, is he?" Jenny hissed.

"No, but she is," Ianto said, pointing towards the entrance just as Donna Noble staggered through, clutching her side.

"Donna!" Sylvia exclaimed, running to her daughter and trapping her in a hug, supporting her. Donna was breathing heavily, and looked somewhat dazed as her mother helped her down the stairs into the main hub.

"Are you alright?" Mickey asked, "What happened?"

"Are you okay, Donna, my love?" Wilfred asked, smoothing her hair back from her face.

"Where's Jack?" Gwen asked, "What happened?"

Donna opened her mouth, her brows knitting together as she tried to formulate words. The trip had given her a head rush, and she had knocked her forehead when she'd landed. Suddenly, the events of just a few moments ago flashed through her mind.

'_Marry me.'_

With a gasp, she staggered back, and was directed into a seat by her mum. Ianto ran off to get some tea, while the others gathered around Donna.

"What happened?" Jenny asked, crouching down in front of Donna and handing the gun blindly to Martha. Martha quickly switched the safety back on, removed all the bullets just in case, and threw the gun into a corner of the room.

Donna stared at Jenny, who gazed worriedly up at her.

Suddenly Donna blurted out, "I'm getting married!"

Jenny's eyes widened, her lips pursed in confusion.

"_What_!" Sylvia exclaimed. Donna never responded; her head sank down to her knees, and she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_Please review! (: _


	32. Chapter 31

_Hi there!_

_I'm sorry about the long wait; life has been keeping me busy lately with schoolwork and university applications and the like. Bleagh! I regret ever saying I wanted to grow up. Anyway, here is the new chapter! :)_

_(Btw, for any "Human Nature" readers, last chapter is up now!)_

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Doctor Who', I am just an enthusiastic fangirl.

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 31

Martha Jones sat on Jack's office chair, keeping an eye on the sleeping redhead lying on his bed. It had barely been a day since Donna had woken from her last coma, and now she was back in the same position.

Jenny perched on the edge of the bed, clutching one of Donna's limp hands in both of hers and tracing shapes on her palm. She didn't like to see the women she considered her mother figure in such a state, and they all knew that another trip into Donna's mind wouldn't tell them anything they didn't already know. Donna had undergone an enormous physical change – she just needed rest.

Sitting in the blue conference room where they had first talked to Donna about her 'condition' were Ianto, Mickey, Sylvia, Wilf and Gwen. Ianto and Mickey had engaged Wilf in conversation, while Sylvia was giving motherhood advice to Gwen.

There was nothing else for the five members of Torchwood, Sylvia, Wilf and Jenny to do other than sit and wait. Wait to for Donna to wake up, and wait to see what became of the Doctor and Captain Jack.

* * *

Flying high above the planet Earth was the Okoquian ship. Inside, the Okoquian soldiers were preparing for invasion. They had thick, strong armour made of the one of the strongest metals in their galaxy, and they all carried laser guns capable of destroying any human (or Time Lord) who got in their way. As they prepared, however, they received word of two Time lords onboard the vessel.

In the belly of the ship was the Throne Room, in which the Okoquian Emperor, watching his subjects operate the ship and prepare it for landing. When he heard of the intruders, he commanded they be spared death (for the time being) and brought straight to him. Which proved to be a stroke of luck for the Doctor and Jack.

With the entire ship looking out for them, it proved rather impossible to stay hidden for long. Almost the minute Jack caught up with the Doctor after sending Donna home, they were descended upon by a group of the Okoquian soldiers and none-too-kindly manhandled through the bowels of the ship toward the Throne Room.

"Doctor!" Jack called as the Time Lord was shoved ahead of him, "Anything I need to remember about these guys?"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor replied, nearly stumbling as his captor stopped suddenly, waiting for a metal door to slide open.

"Anything I need to know!" Jack exclaimed, twisting his head at an awkward angle to catch the Doctor's eye. The door open finally, and the Doctor peered into the room as they were roughly shoved forward. He grabbed Jack's arm and met his gaze.

"Just remember this," the Doctor said quietly, "Purple knob, three times. Red button – and _run_."

Jack blinked owlishly at the Doctor, confused. Before he had time to ask, a large shadow fell over them. Looking up, the men were confronted with another Okoquian, at least twelve feet tall, wearing jet-black armour. His helmet was adorned with various precious stones and a gold rim; the Doctor knew instantly that this was the Emperor, while Jack could guess at least that this was the head honcho. The Emperor's visor was lifted to reveal two glaring eyes.

"_Time Lords_." he growled, the sneer in his voice unmissable.

"That's us," the Doctor confirmed, cheerfully. If they scanned Jack, they would find out he was a human male and kill him on the spot. The Captain didn't understand what was going on, but even if he did, he would have let them remain under this impression.

"_You foiled our plan to invade Earth last time you met our people, Time Lord_." the Emperor continued; Jack pretended to be listening avidly to the rough, short syllables of the Okoquian language, "_You will not be so lucky this time_."

The Doctor's happy demeanour vanished in an instance, and the Oncoming Storm was out in full force, "I was short with your kind last time, and destroyed them before I could negotiate with them. This time, I want to give you a chance,"

"_A chance?_"

"A chance to turn this vessel around, go far, far away from Earth, and stay there,"

The Emperor's dark eyes narrowed even more so, "_You think we will do such a thing – risk the extinction of our species – just because you have a soft spot for this planet?_". He barked out a laugh.

"I think you'll do just that," the Doctor told him, "Because while I don't want to deal with you _the hard way_, I'll still do it. There is a great species on that planet, and I won't let you force your sick plans on them."

"_You are weak and __**pathetic**__, Time Lord! I was under the belief that your species were above such wretchedness!_"

The Doctor bristled dangerously, "Don't push me, Emperor. I would rather see this ship up in flames and you all dead than any one of my friends hurt,"

"_I will do more than hurt them_," the Emperor snarled, visibly agitated at the Doctor's threats, "_I personally will pick your loved ones out, and tear them apart._"

To Jack's surprise, the Doctor lunged forward with a furious roar, as if his lean frame would even knock the thick one of the Emperor. With a swing of one heavily armoured arm, the Emperor knocked the Doctor out of the way, swinging him into Jack and sending them both sprawling across the room. They stopped when Jack collided with the wall of a control panel; his head making a sickening thump. Miraculously, he retained consciousness, although the world swam briefly for him. The Doctor hastily rolled off him and helped him sit up against the metal; the Okoquian who was manning it moved away, to stand beside his commander with his gun cocked.

"_As pitiful as the humans he is trying to save_," the Emperor exclaimed, throwing his head back and laughing heartily. His army joined in with him. In the accompanying noise, the Doctor looked into Jack's eyes.

"When I give you the signal," he whispered, and Jack saw a mixture of anger, hopelessness and regret swimming in the Doctor's brown eyes, "Purple knob, three times. Red button – run."

Jack blearily recalled his earlier instructions, and responded with a hard nod. The Doctor exhaled.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, "I'm so, so sorry,"

Jack instantly knew that whatever purple-knob-three-times-red-button-run entailed would be bad, possibly disastrous – but that didn't matter. What mattered was stopping these aliens from hurting anyone on planet Earth - his family, his friends, his workmates. And especially his Donna.

The Doctor saw the friendly acceptance on Jack's face, and with a pointed tap on the console behind Jack, he sprang to his feet, turning to face the Okoquians.

"Don't do this!" the Doctor shouted. The Emperor had turned towards the glass wall opposite them, which overlooked Earth.

"One last chance; if you invade, the ramifications will be…"

"_Shut him up_." the Emperor commanded with a wave of his hand over his shoulder. Two Okoquians grabbed either one of the Doctor's arms, "_And begin our descent,_"

"_Don't you dare!_" the Doctor snapped, struggling against his captors, "Don't make me stop you!"

The Emperor swung around and advanced on the Time Lord, stopping mere inches from him. He bent down and levelled his gaze on the Doctor's.

"_Humans are parasites._" the Emperor hissed, enjoying seeing his enemy upset, "_As many of them as possible should be wiped out, and a few should be kept in service to their new Okoquian masters,_"

"Child-bearing females, you mean," the Doctor said witheringly.

"_They shall be put to good use – bearing the new generations of Okoquians, while their measly planet shall be the new Okofe Quintus, our home,_" the Emperor told him, "_A useless species shall finally be given an aim. Surely even _you_ can see the sense in that, Time Lord_,"

"The human race is NOT useless!" the Doctor passionately informed him, "You have never been more wrong – they are amazing. The things they've done, what they will do, their minds and bodies, their infinite capacity to emote…! If you saw them for what they are rather than trying to destroy and enslave them—"

"_The Okoquians are more powerful, and a better species!_" the Emperor interrupted, to cheers from the surrounding soldiers, "_No Time Lord will convince us to change our course. Earth becomes ours, today!_"

Revelling in the following proud outbursts from his subjects, the Emperor turned away from the Doctor, moving back towards the wide window. Outside, the Doctor could see that they were speeding towards the planet, and swallowed his panic. He couldn't act yet; he had to give them another chance—!

"_You will watch, Doctor_," the Emperor informed him, "_Watch as the humans burn, and bow down to the greater race_,"

"Please, no!" the Doctor practically wailed, continuing to fight the guards. If he could just get to the controls and change course…! Already, the continents and countries of Earth were beginning to take recognisable shape as they neared it.

* * *

Jack watched, petrified, as they zoomed towards his planet. They were in Earth's atmosphere now, and it was only a matter of time before they landed. The Doctor had given Jack no discernable signal – he kept yelling at the Emperor in the unrecognizable language, and Jack knew he would rather keep fighting to change the Emperor's mind until they had landed and the Okoquians began slaughtering the humans, than destroy them without making sure they had the chance to change their minds. It was up to Jack now.

Gripping the console box, he heaved himself to his feet – Jack's head swam from his recent thump to it. Looking down at the buttons on the panel, Jack attempted to find the purple knob. It was hiding in the lower left hand corner in between two larger green buttons, but it was there. However, there were at least a dozen red buttons, of varying sizes and shapes – how would Jack know which one to push? Acting as quickly and quietly as he could, Jack attempted to turn the knob to the left. It refused to budge. Jack momentarily panicked, but upon turning it to the right, the knob moved easily. He spun it three times, and suddenly one of the red buttons lit up – a small, unsuspecting one right in the centre of the panel. As Jack moved to push it, an image of Donna flashed into his mind, as he had last seen her – sitting on the floor, clutching his vortex manipulator, her red curls falling around her shoulders and her face lit up in a bright smile. She had just accepted his proposal. Donna Noble was the most gorgeous and important woman in Jack's life, and pressing this button – regardless of its effect on the Okoquians or Jack and the Doctor – would keep her safe. Then, it was worth it.

He pushed the button, and an automated message in Okoquian played out over speakers. Jack had no idea what it said, but he did see the panic that it caused.

The next thing he knew, the Doctor had broken free of his guards and was running towards Jack.

"Do you remember my last instruction?" he exclaimed, grabbing Jack by the coat and dragging him towards the door, "We have one minute – _run_!"

* * *

Jenny sat on a bench in the Millennium Centre, staring up at the sky above. It was late afternoon, and the first stars were faintly appearing. It had been a long day, what with meeting her father again, Donna turning into a Time Lady and the discovery of another alien threat. But it had been a good day. At least, an _interesting _day. Now all that was left was for her dad and Jack to come home, safe and sound.

The young blonde was so absorbed in her thoughts, that she didn't notice somebody sit beside her on the bench, until a smooth voice cut into her reverie and startled her: "You gonna talk to me, cutie?"

Jenny turned and was somewhat surprised to see Jonathan 'JC' Carlisle sitting beside her – the man she had met at a bar the night before, the man she had gone home with and…er…spent the night with. He was as good-looking in the daylight as he had been at night, Jenny noted with a slight hitch in her breath. She had snuck out of his place in the wee hours of the morning, and had not yet seen him in daytime. His brown eyes looked amber in the sunlight, his teeth were wide and sparkly, his hair was black and shaved close to his head, his skin was glowing healthily, his dark skin was glowing tantalizingly healthily, and his cheekbones – good _God_, how had Jenny not noticed his glorious cheekbones?

She quickly checked herself, attempting to snap herself out of this weird mood. First of all, how many women honestly drooled over a man's _bone structure_? Secondly, she had been gawping at poor JC for several minutes now, and he was starting to look nervous.

"H…hi!" she finally spluttered, grinning a bit too widely. This seemed to work, though, as JC beamed back.

"I was wondering if I'd see you again," he admitted, taking her hands – his were soft and warm, and Jenny clung to them tightly, "You left without saying goodbye this morning…"

"I'm sorry," Jenny said quickly, "I had to go and meet my dad,"

It wasn't a complete lie.

"You didn't leave a number, or a way to contact you," JC continued, pouting slightly. _Oh, _Jenny internally moaned, _please, JC, stop being adorable_.

"I don't really have a way of being contacted," Jenny admitted with a shrug, "No phone, no e-mail?"

"Not even an _e-mail_? What century do you live in?" JC laughed, pulling her a bit closer. Jenny smiled widely.

"I'll get one," she promised, "And I'll get a phone – I suppose I'll have to. _And _a job. That way you can talk to me, if you want to,"

JC nodded enthusiastically, "Of course I _want _to – I'm not the one-night stand kind of guy, Jenny. I like you, a lot."

Jenny had no idea what a 'one-night stand' was, but she could guess. And JC's overall sentiment seemed rather sweet, so Jenny decided to reward it with a kiss. For the first time, she felt confident enough in the abilities JC had recently taught her to lead it, and she found she rather enjoyed kissing JC.

The two were so caught up in their embrace, the only thing that could break them apart was the sky suddenly bursting into flames, as it did. The sudden orange light Cardiff was bathed in, the heat and the screams of surrounding pedestrians wrenched the couple apart, and caused them both to look up.

"Jesus!" JC breathed as something burnt in the sky, a distance away, "What was that?"

He turned his head, but found that Jenny had vanished.

* * *

_I admit to having drooled over men's bone-structure, so I feel Jenny's pain. Sigh._

_A rather long chapter, to make up for my absence ;) I will try to be better next time! I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know in a __**review**__! :D xxx_


	33. Chapter 32

…_eek. I know, I fail at life. Apologies! Hopefully this update will make up for it! _

_Without any more delay…:_

Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish… but no, Doctor Who is not mine.

* * *

**Remembering**

Chapter 32

Jenny skidded into the Torchwood hub, barely avoiding a tumble down a set of stairs by grabbing hold of a railing. Her almost-accident did not bother her for too long, as she immediately demanded, "_Did __you __guys __see __that_?"

The audience she was referencing – Martha, Rose, Mickey, Gwen, Ianto, Sylvia and Wilf – were stood around a desk, staring at one of the computers. At Jenny's exclamation, Rose turned around, and the young Time Lady noticed how ashen she was.

"We did," Rose confirmed, "The ship must have blown."

"They did it," Mickey added in a shaky voice. Martha whimpered, reaching out and grabbing his hand, "The Doctor and Jack – they must have blown it up,"

"But what happened to 'em?" Wilf asked in a small voice. A deafening silence descended on the hub.

The implications of recent events – the ship's explosion, and the no-show of Jack and the Doctor – occurred to Jenny and she stumbled down the stairs, sinking down to sit on them. She propped her elbows on her knees and her head fell into her hands as she trembled. _It __wasn__'__t __**fair**__. _She had just found her father again and what if he was…

An arm suddenly wrapped around Jenny, and she became aware of a comforting presence at her side: "'Ere, come on, darling. It'll be okay."

Jenny looked up with wide, worried eyes, to see Donna's grandfather smiling as warmly as he could.

"I have since your dad defy the odds in lots of situations," Wilfred confided, "He's always made it before, and he's not gonna give up now – not now you're waiting down here for him."

Jenny scoffed, recalling a time when her father wanted nothing more than to see the back of her. In response to her cynical noise, Wilfred tightened his hold around her, pulling her further into the embrace. Jenny frowned, unsure about his actions: "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a hug."

"Why?"

Wilfred looked slightly taken aback, but quickly decided it must be a Martian thing, "It's what we do here on Earth – to offer comfort to someone."

Jenny mimicked his surprised look; her natural instincts told her that comfort was unnecessary, and all that mattered was fighting the good cause and being a worthy solider. However, she was still shaking with the knowledge that she might never see her father again, and Wilfred was warm and smelt like peppermint, so Jenny decided to give these Earth customs a try. Wilfred smiled victoriously as Jenny snuggled closer to him.

Smiling at the sight, the others, all of who looked somewhat pacified by Wilfred's optimism, glanced at each other.

"Jack's been in worse scrapes," Gwen conceded aloud, "And that means the Doctor's been in _much _worse situations."

Martha rolled her eyes, "Believe me – you have no idea."

She tightened her grip on Mickey's hand.

* * *

_"__We __have __one __minute__ – __**run**__!__" _

Jack had run with the Doctor plenty of times, but this was probably the most frenzied and panicked their escape had ever been. The Doctor kept a firm grip on Jack's coat, dragging him along and ensuring the immortal did not fall behind. Jack, however, managed to keep up pretty well, spurred on by the thought of getting home and – well – imminent death.

Neither of the men had any idea how they managed to go so quickly, but just as red lights and klaxons were beginning to go off, the Tardis came into view around a corner. They were in the home stretch. Somewhere they found the strength to speed up, bolting towards the blue box. The Doctor stretched his hand out in front of them and snapped his fingers; the Tardis doors fell open, just as the two men tumbled in. Jack hit the ground heavily, gasping for air, but the Doctor scrambled to his feet and ran to the Tardis, pulling levers and smashing buttons.

"_Come __on_!" he ground out, lurching as the ship lunged into the roughest flight Jack had ever felt on board her. But it felt as if she was flying – they were safe.

Suddenly, there was the noise of a blast from outside, and the Tardis practically somersaulted as the explosion of the Okoquian ship propelled her into her flight. Jack clung to the grating of the floor, squeezing his eyes shut. He had always hated theme park rides, and this was ten times worse.

"_Jack_."

The Doctor turned to see his friend sprawled over the floor, and quickly went to his side, "_Jack_! Are you okay?"

Jack groaned.

"Jack, stay awake now," the Doctor demanded, inspecting Jack's dark head for signs of bleeding from the fall he took earlier – none to speak of, but there was a pretty nasty bump, "We've escaped the ship, the blast, everything. We're on our way home – we've won."

The Doctor didn't sound particularly happy, and somewhere in his muddled brain, Jack knew that this was just another thing the Doctor was going to add to his guilt list. In an attempt to raise some cheer from the Time Lord, Jack cracked open one eye and feebly lifted his fist in a celebratory gesture, saying from behind gritted teeth, "_Awesome_. Team Tardis – undefeated!"

It worked, and the Doctor smiled.

"Can you sit up?" he asked, already slipping an arm under Jack and helping him back onto his knees. They succeeded in moving him, and Jack swayed in his new position for a moment, before falling backwards, landing on his backside and hitting the wooden doors of the Tardis with his back. The whole world swam briefly for Jack.

"I think you may have a concussion," the Doctor told him, kneeing before him and peering into Jack's blue eyes, "When we get home, I'll have Martha look you over."

The mention of their friend Martha suddenly brought the realisation that they had won home for Jack. They had defeated the Okoquians for good, and were now going home. Back to Torchwood, back to Martha. Back to Donna. His fiancée.

"I'm marrying her."

The Doctor frowned, blinking at Jack owlishly. For the first time since they had reached the Tardis, Jack looked properly aware of his surroundings. "Who?"

Jack's face split into a lopsided grin, "Donna. I asked her, and she said she would. Marry me, that is. We're getting married."

The Doctor stared at him, mouth slightly ajar. And then: "_Oh_."

"Aren't you happy for us?"

"Ye- … _yes_, of course I am. That's excellent news."

Jack squinted at the Doctor, registering his lack of excitement, "You could look a bit happier, Doc,"

The Doctor sighed and sat back on his heels, "Jack. I'm honestly glad you found someone – but Donna is… Donna's a…"

"A Time Lord now," Jack finished grimly, "You don't think I'm good enough for her,"

"It's not that, Jack," the Doctor said firmly, "I know you are a good man – a wonderful man. But Time Lords don't marry human beings. It's just not done,"

"You mean it _wasn__'__t_ done. The rest of the Time Lords are dead now, you have to carry on somehow, right? New era, Doc."

The Doctor clicked his tongue, irritated, "The Time Lords' almost-extinction doesn't change sensibilities, Jack. I still have them – which means Donna does too,"

"She was born on Earth! She's been a human for most of her life, and she'll retain her human _sensibilities_." Jack scoffed, mocking the Doctor slightly. The Time Lord's eyes narrowed.

"She will live much longer than you," he reminded Jack, "She'll regenerate, and change. That's why Time Lords would never be with humans – you wither and die, while we go on. Think about what it will do to her, Jack. You _must _understand my concern!"

"I do," conceded Jack, "But I've got a pretty hefty lifespan myself, Doc,"

The Doctor flinched slightly, imperceptibly. Jack frowned.

"That's right, you do. But even that must come to an end," the Doctor told him, quietly and mysteriously, as if he knew something Jack didn't.

"What do you-?"

The Doctor shook his head, and Jack realised it was better he didn't ask. He probably didn't really want to know, anyway.

"What about Rose?" Jack asked, changing the subject suddenly. The Doctor's brows shot up.

"What about her?"

"Aren't you two together, now that she's back?" Jack asked, cocking his head and giving the Doctor a smirk.

"_Jack_," the Doctor exclaimed, flushing slightly. The Doctor got more embarrassed at talk of such things than a Victorian would.

"Rose and I are not together. Not in that way," the Doctor clarified, although it wasn't without a hint of disappointment, "We've…"

He gestured lamely with his hand, before admitting, "We've kissed, a couple of times. Things are… are different, yeah. But—but nothing's… nothing's _official_."

"'Nothing's official'?" Jack repeated, unamused, "You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

"I beg your pardon!" the Doctor exclaimed, reeling back, "I am _not _an idiot – I'll have you know that if it weren't for me…"

"If it weren't for you, the Universe would not exist, Earth would be destroyed twenty times over, various scientific discoveries wouldn't have been made, a few colours wouldn't have been found, yadda yadda yadda, I _know _all that. You may be a genius in that respect, but you're a dumbass in all others."

The Doctor's mouth fell open, surprised at Jack's tirade.

"Rose is _in __love_ with you, and you love her too." Jack stated, "You shouldn't keep her hanging, you shouldn't do this to yourself!"

"I can't," the Doctor shook his head and got to his feet, moving away from Jack. "I just…I _can__'__t_," He reached the Tardis console and started playing with some levers and buttons, avoiding Jack's gaze.

"Why not?"

"She'll be gone, soon. I'll have to lose her, all over again and next time for eternity. Donna will lose you too, but at least she'll have you for much, much longer than I'll have Rose. She'll live for another sixty, seventy years - if that. Then she'll die, and I'll have to survive without her. Seventy years…"

The Doctor suddenly turned around, surprising Jack with the raw, heartbreaking emotion on his face, "Do you know what that's like for someone who was born centuries ago, and still has centuries to go? Someone who can live forever? Seventy years – that's _the __blink __of __an __eye_! I open myself up, I admit I love her, then one blink later and I have to go on without her. Isn't it better that I don't get her to begin with?"

Jack was the one person the Doctor allowed himself to be honest with, especially with matters of the heart. Even so, his revelations made him awkward, and he turned back to the console, moving slowly, painfully, the full weight of his long life sitting on his shoulders. Absently, he started playing with the levers and knobs on the Tardis. Jack swallowed thickly and, using the Tardis' railings, pulled himself onto unsteady feet.

"Doc, I promise you, it'd be worth it," he said firmly, staggering up the ramp, "When you live as long as we do, any happiness – even if it lasts for just a blink – is worth it. We've seen so much bad, that I think we could both use some joy, right? You and Rose… Donna and I… that'll get us through the darkness, don't you think?"

"You're saying one moment of happiness will make the unhappiness seem better?" the Doctor asked bitterly, reminded of a beautiful courtier, wise beyond her years, who he had met in Paris.

Jack paused for a moment, then answered honestly: "Yes."

The Doctor swallowed thickly as Jack came to rest on the console beside him.

"Nobody deserves this more than you, Doctor. You've got Rose, Jenny's back, another Time Lord exists... allow yourself this." Jack said firmly, "It won't matter, in the end, as long as you're happy – even if it is jut for the blink of an eye."

The Doctor glanced at Jack, just as the Tardis landed.

* * *

Jenny didn't even wait for the Tardis door to open – she leapt at it pushing it open herself and leaping at the surprised humanoid behind it.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug, "I thought I'd never see you again – I thought you'd been blown up!"

The Doctor squeezed her back just as tight, maneuvering her back out of the Tardis so that Jack could escape. Jenny pulled back and looked up at her dad, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hey – why are you crying?" her father asked softly, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs, "I'm here, I'm alright,"

"I was worried." Jenny responded thickly, "I thought you'd left me, again,"

The Doctor felt a stab of guilt, and quickly pulled her back into his embrace. Jenny happily burrowed close to him, almost stepping inside his trench coat with him.

Rose smiled at the sight, and her smile widened when she met the Doctor's eyes over Jenny's blonde head. Wordlessly, he held out one arm to her and she stepped into the embrace, one arm around the Doctor and the other stroking Jenny's back soothingly.

Jack, meanwhile, had been pushed between Gwen, Mickey and Ianto for hugs and handshakes respectively, and was now being yanked into the medical bay by Martha, who had noticed his concussion immediately.

"I'm fine, honestly," Jack insisted for the tenth time, even as the world span. Martha rolled her eyes and gently propelled him into a seat.

"Just let me _check_ – it's what you pay me for, isn't it?"

"I thought I paid you in opportunities to check out Mickity-Mick?" Jack said with a wink, his eyes wandering pointedly to her ringless left hand. Martha blushed deeply.

"You pay me for my medical services first," she insisted, trying to hold her head high despite embarrassment. She pulled a small torch out of her white coat and shined the light in Jack's eyes.

"Where's Donna?" Jack asked, wriggling under Martha's firm hold. He heard Wilfred wolf-whistle at him from somewhere above him, in the main hub. A moment later, he heard Sylvia hushing her dad, only for him to whistle louder. Jack grinned broadly – he couldn't say Donna's family weren't interesting.

"She is resting," Martha told him stiffly, returning the flashlight to her pocket, "As you should be. You've got a concussion, but it'll be fine. What the hell happened up there?"

"Long story – get the Doc to explain," Jack said hurriedly, already hopping out of his seat.

Martha rolled her eyes, "In your office,"

"Thank you, Doctor Jones!"

* * *

_**Next ****Time**: Donna and Jack reunite, the Doctor and Rose finally talk, and perhaps a return appearance from JC and his glorious cheekbones._

_Again – sorry for the wait. But reviews make me write the next chapter faster! :)_

_Thank you for reading! xx_


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